


Fairies and Dragons

by ottermadness



Category: Fairy Tail
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Tabletop Gaming, Conventions, Cross-Posted on FanFiction.Net, Drama, Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition, Eventual Romance, F/M, Friendship, Gaming, Gangs, Nalu - Freeform, Slow Burn, Strangers to Lovers
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-01
Updated: 2021-01-11
Packaged: 2021-03-08 20:27:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 25
Words: 188,571
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27332668
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ottermadness/pseuds/ottermadness
Summary: Lucy was supposed to be out shopping, buying a birthday present for a friend. She didn't expect to be roped into a game of Dungeons and Dragons when she entered a tabletop store out of mild curiosity. Modern AU. Eventual NaLu with other minor pairings.
Relationships: Gray Fullbuster/Juvia Lockser, Jellal Fernandes/Erza Scarlet, Levy McGarden/Gajeel Redfox, Natsu Dragneel/Lucy Heartfilia
Comments: 49
Kudos: 65





	1. Prologue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A few notes before the story gets started:
> 
> I generally write using British spelling and grammar but in this instance, I will try to use American terminology as that is how the original manga/anime is translated. Don't hate me if I mess it up, my English blood is already screaming at me to not to this! My spelling will most likely switch to British at times but terms will generally be American. This story isn't based on a specific real-world country in mind however so don't expect national celebrations/holidays to be included.
> 
> I won't be using honorifics as I feel it doesn't really work in this story at all.
> 
> It will also be beneficial if you are familiar with the tabletop game 'Dungeons and Dragons' for this story but not necessary as there will be some basic explanations and I won't be overly technical about anything or stick rigidly to certain rulesets.
> 
> Primarily a slow-burn Nalu story with mentions of Gruvia, Jerza and GaLe.
> 
> This story was originally posted on fanfiction.net three months ago and I finally got around to posting it on here!

**Saturday, Au** **gust** **1st**

Lucy Heartfilia was feeling at a loss. She had been out in town all afternoon, trudging from store to store trying to find a suitable birthday gift. It wasn't normally this much of a struggle but trying to find a gift for one friend in particular – Loke, was not an easy task as she soon discovered. The man was already well off financially and she always preferred to buy things for people that actually meant something, that had sentimental value to them.

So she tried every shop she could think of that might have had something appropriate and now her feet were beginning to hurt. She was currently walking down a quieter street that was a bit further from the center of town, away from the crowds of happy shoppers. She was about to call it quits for the day and telling herself she still had a few weeks to find something when she passed an unusual store that she hadn't tried yet.

It was definitely different from any of the stores she had already been too. The shop window was decorated with logos of various brands she didn't recognize and beyond the glass were shelves of comic books, board game boxes, figurines and unfamiliar merchandise which she suspected might be related to video games. Overhead, there was a large red banner with the name of the shop 'Strauss Games and Hobbies' followed by a description 'Tabletop Games, Books and Accessories'.

Thinking it couldn't hurt to at least have a look as she had tried everywhere else, Lucy approached the entrance, a little bell rang as she opened the door.

* * *

"Really Natsu? He doesn't even send me a heads up?" Gray spoke with clear irritation, rubbing his forehead in frustration.

"Yeah, well, he told me to tell you," Natsu nonchalantly replied as he sat himself down at the table, scattering various bags of snacks in front of him.

Gray continued to set up the table, placing his screen in front of him, concealing anything he placed between it and himself as well as taking various colored dice out (although most were in shades of blue). Finally, he took out various, finely painted miniatures on squared paper in the center of the old, rectangular table in front of him. He looked over at his pink-haired companion who had now opened a bag of chips and started munching on them loudly, crumbs spilling everywhere.

Gray sighed at the sight of his messy friend before delving into his sudden issue. "And why did you say he was dropping out again?"

"He wanted to hang out with someone else on Saturdays," Natsu responded, placing his food back down and leaning back in his chair, with his hands behind his head, seemingly unbothered by the unfolding predicament.

"He's your brother, why didn't you say something sooner?"

"I ain't his keeper, ice prick," Natsu retorted in annoyance. "Besides, he was really excited about whoever it was he was hangin' with. Mavis or something."

Gray huffed as he peered at his notes. "Yeah, okay, that's nice and all but now we need another player. I set up this campaign for four players minimum."

Getting fed up of Gray's fussing, Natsu stood up, peering around the room. "It's no big deal, we can just ask someone around here to play."

"You serious?" Gray asked, cocking an eyebrow at him.

"Yeah…? Why not?" Natsu deadpanned, his eyes scanning the vicinity for anyone hanging around.

"Good luck with that," Gray answered sarcastically.

Natsu ignored him and focused on looking for someone to fill his brother's place at the table. There were a few kids eyeing up the video games of course but a bit too young to be playing D&D on Saturday evenings.

There was Lisanna or Mira who ran the place but they had jobs to do. Of course, there were the usual nerdy-looking types loitering around the board games but he was specifically looking for someone that would fit in with their group.

It was a bit of a tall order but if he could spot someone who maybe had a similar interest to what he or maybe one of his group's members, it could work out? Not spotting anyone immediately left Natsu starting to rethink his idea already.

However, it was the sight of someone near the manga section of the shop, browsing some of his favorite _shōnen_ that caught his attention. Before Gray could protest any further to Natsu's 'great idea', Natsu promptly left the table, approaching the person whom he quickly realized was a woman, probably around the same age as him and noticing that her long blonde hair in a somewhat frazzled lopsided ponytail as well as the obvious short skirt. Not the attire of someone who usually frequents the place he thought but she was browsing one of his favorite sections so surely they had to be interesting enough to investigate regardless.

"Yo!" He casually greeted, causing the blonde to turn towards him with an embarrassed expression on her face as if she had been caught with something she shouldn't have. In her hands, she was holding a copy of the latest 'Eden's Zero' – one of his favorite manga and he couldn't help but warmly smile at her. Surely someone with the same taste as himself would want to at least try out Dungeons and Dragons, right?

"That series is awesome," he stated, pointing at the book.

She grinned back shyly but returned the book to the shelf, "I've never read it. I'm just trying to find a gift for my friend but I don't know what to get him."

Natsu felt a little disappointed. The woman now seemed nervous and out of her comfort zone. Perhaps it was asking too much to expect the first person he approached to be a good fit for the group and that's if she even wanted to try playing in the first place. Then again, she was shopping for a friend? In the manga section? Perhaps he shouldn't give up just yet. Giving up wasn't really in his nature either.

"I mean erm…" She suddenly continued. "I'd just thought I would at least look at what these were. I've never read these kind of books before. I prefer novels myself." Her eyes darted over the shelves and shelves of manga books and Natsu can see that her curiosity has definitely perked despite her statement.

"What kind of novels?" He blurted out without thinking. He wasn't a reader and it really, _really_ wasn't his thing at all. Natsu wasn't even sure why he felt the need to ask and he hoped she wouldn't start blurting out the names of books he'd never heard of. Manga and comics were his preferred choice over paragraphs of writing. None the less, that part of him that was curious about her kept him engaged. Something about her told him that she would be a good fit, he'd just have to find it.

"Oh, well, fantasy novels, occasionally sci-fi," she responded with a flicker of excitement in her large, brown eyes.

Natsu couldn't help but feel a little victory in his heart. A bit of probing into those genres would tell him everything he needed to know. He just hoped by 'fantasy', she didn't mean those sucky teen romance books about vampires or some shit.

"Oh yeah?" He said with a smile, "You mean like Lord of the Rings and all that?" He was hoping for a yes. He had never read the books but he loved the movies, having lost count of how many times he had seen them. There were plenty of other movies he definitely liked too: the ones that included his favorite mythical creature topping that list.

To his relief, she nodded with a smile back at him, "Yeah. A Song of Ice and Fire is also pretty good too."

Natsu had to quickly wrack his brain for that one. It sounded really familiar but he took a moment to place it. Then it finally clicked. "Oh! You mean Game of Thrones?"

"Yeah, that's the first book!"

"I've only seen the TV series."

She didn't respond to this with anything but a small smile but the way this woman's eyes lit up over their brief discussion had pretty much told him what he was looking for. She liked fantasy, she liked stuff with dragons in it and she looked happy talking about it. He decided to just go ahead and ask. If she told him no, then there was no harm done right? Although it wouldn't be fun to put up with Gray calling him an idiot afterwards for even trying.

"Right, so, well this is gonna sound a bit random but..." He began but struggled to keep going as if he suddenly realized this was more awkward than he anticipated it to be. He decided he would just outright say it, "Do you wanna try out playing Dungeons and Dragons with me and a few others over there? It's a homebrew campaign and we could do with another player." He flicked his thumb over his shoulder to where Gray was sitting, indicating what he meant.

The blonde woman seemed confused and shifted awkwardly for a moment. It occurred to Natsu that maybe she was just a bookworm and she had no idea what he was asking of her. That was okay though, if she was interested, he could just show her how to play. If there were some books he had read in his lifetime, it had been the ones that told him everything he needed to know of how to play that game.

She wrinkled her brow, looking uncertain. "I don't know… I'm not even sure what that is exactly."

Natsu brought his hand up and absently minded gripped his chin as he thought about the best way to describe the game to her. He thought back to when Erza tried to explain it to someone once and that person was totally overwhelmed with information that she gave them. He needed to make it sound fun if he had any hope of convincing her to play.

"Uh, you make an adventurer with a story and you go on quests and stuff in a fantasy world with different races and magical creatures like dragons and unicorns," Natsu then tried to explain although he knew it was more of a ramble. He wasn't really a man of words and wondered if that was enough to convince her. "And I can help you out with getting started!" He added, but she still didn't look convinced.

"You use your imagination to play mostly," He tacked on at the end for good measure.

It wasn't clear what she thought of his explanation. Her eyes darted over to the table and back to him a few times as her facial expressions looked as if she was having some kind of indecisive, silent argument with herself internally. When she finally looked back at him again, he couldn't help but offer her another friendly grin. He didn't expect her to suddenly twist her gaze away from him as if she were now suddenly shy. She was definitely weird.

Natsu was pretty sure she was going to say no at this point. No doubt she had better things to do. She did say she was shopping for something earlier. Well, at least he tried-

"Yeah. Sure. I can try it." She quickly said, as her eyes snapped back to his with a sudden sense of determination and maybe a little excitement. He had to admit he kind of liked that look.

Natsu was not only little astonished but also kind of impressed with himself that he had convinced a random girl to play.  
"Great! You're totally gonna love it if you like all those fantasy books." He didn't know her name yet. He probably should have asked that first. "I'm Natsu by the way."

"Lucy," She held out her hand in a friendly gesture. Did she want to shake hands?

Natsu obliged her weirdness and wasn't surprised when her gentle hand pulled back quickly from his. He had a tendency to do that to people as she no doubt felt his 'higher than average' temperature on his palm. He didn't really know why people said that about him, he never felt as if he were any warmer than anyone else. Except for that popsicle, Gray of course.

"Right then, Lucy." Natsu directed her over to the table, where Gray was still neatly assembling his materials, notes and bags of dice and looking fairly methodical about it. Everyone that played in their group had their own set of dice but Gray always had extra sets. All Lucy would need is a pencil, a copy of a blank character sheet and to have a look at what kind of character to make in the player's handbook.

"I guess you're sitting here next to me then!" He announced probably a bit more enthusiastically than he intended. He could help her out better if she sat nearby and she wouldn't have to feel intimidated by his other two friends when they showed up.

He pointed to his brother's empty seat which was beside Natsu's on one side of the wooden table. Erza and Gajeel always sat opposite of him and Gray always set himself on the end, partially hidden behind his screen. It had been that way for years of visiting this place.

Lucy didn't sit down straight away. She looked over at Gray who was looking flabbergasted at the situation unfurling before him that made Natsu feel just a little bit prouder of himself. Natsu could tell that Gray had not foreseen this happening in the slightest.

"Gray, this is Luigi. She's gonna see if she likes the game," Natsu said fairly smugly, causing Gray to frown slightly at him.

"It's Lucy actually…" Lucy meekly corrected although neither of them looked at her.

"Seriously, Natsu, that actually worked?" His question was rhetorical as his eyes darted between the idiot he called his friend and the attractive blonde that suddenly was looking awkwardly out of place. Gray looked her over, uncertain if she was really the type to want to play a tabletop game.

Before Gray could ask her if she really wanted to play, Natsu cut in. "Yeah, so stop whinging and let's help her make a character already."

With their attention finally back on her, Lucy gave Gray a little wave, clearly feeling a little awkward as she fidgeted on the spot.

Gray stood up to reach out and shake her hand at least. It only seemed right to be polite after Natsu had just brought her over here after only a few minutes of conversation. Personally he would have preferred to figure out if this woman was gonna be a good fit for _his_ campaign but as usual, Natsu thoughtlessly went right over his head on that one.

Her eyes suddenly widened as her gaze dropped downwards, before she hastily looked away, a tinge of faint pink sweeping across her cheeks.

"Dammit, Gray! Stop taking your clothes off!" Natsu yelled out, pointing towards Gray's lower half. It was just his luck to find someone who agreed to play only for Gray to strip in front of them. After all that convincing, it was gonna be straight back to square one again wasn't it?

"Shit! Sorry," Gray freaked before desperately looking around for his pants. "It's a bad habit… I'm not a pervert, really…" He muttered although it wasn't very convincing and he knew it.

To Natsu's surprise, Lucy didn't bolt from the shop but merely shielded her eyes until Gray was no longer in a state of undress.

Once Gray had composed himself, he turned back to Lucy with an apologetic look on his face. "Really sorry about that! Look, let me start over… Hi. I'm Gray and I'm the dungeon master."

Realizing how that sounded to someone who was going to try the game out for what was presumably the first time, Gray slapped a palm in his face. He was usually cool, calm and collected but this whole situation had thrown him off.

Natsu stepped in at this point, growing more impatient and diverting Lucy's attention away from his bumbling friend. "A dungeon master runs the game. He's kinda the organizer of everything and creates the world we're gonna play in."

Lucy seemed to take in everything that Natsu said with ease, remaining quiet and nodding in understanding. He felt himself take an internal deep breath of relief to see that she was still interested.

"… That's a surprisingly good explanation coming from you Natsu," Gray snidely commented.

"What's that supposed to mean?!"

"Means I didn't expect you to explain anything coherently."

"You wanna take it outside, frost face?!"

The bell that hung over the front doors of the shop let a sudden, harsh ring and the three of them whipped their heads over to the distraction.

"Are you boys fighting, again?!"

Natsu grimaced, shutting his trap immediately at the sight of the mean-looking red-haired woman at the door. The nearby clock that hung over the store counter began to chime loudly, informing him that his other companion, Erza had arrived precisely on time as she usually did. If he was worried about Lucy bolting before, he really hoped that seeing Erza wouldn't intimidate her too much.

A quick look to his side revealed Lucy was still there, her expression more confused than intimidated. He said nothing but he really hoped she would stay despite the off-putting introduction to his friends. He really did think she was going to fit in, if he couldn't quite explain just why just yet.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Normally chapters will be longer than this but this was just the prologue.
> 
> Let me know what you think in the reviews!
> 
> D&D Terms:  
> Dungeon Master: Someone who hosts the game, creating characters to interact with the players, enemies to fight, dungeons to investigate and treasure to find.  
> Homebrew: Player created content instead of official content. In the context of the story, instead of using a predefined setting from an existing book, Gray created his own adventure for everyone to get involved in.
> 
> Player's Handbook: Teaches you everything about creating a character and how to play as a player.  
> Campaign: The term used to describe the story/adventure that the player's characters are going on.


	2. An Encounter with Kobolds

**Saturday, August 1st**

Lucy found herself biting her bottom lip nervously with maybe a tiny bit of regret for her split-second decision to involve herself with a group of strangers that wanted to play some kind of… board game?

In front of her was a 'Character Sheet' which looked like the strangest way of writing a character biography that she had ever seen. Proficiency bonus? Death saves? Passive Wisdom? What was any of it supposed to mean? It looked complicated and even though she was all for learning something new, she felt completely out of her element looking at what was in front of her.

The 'board' was squared paper with various penciled outlines drawn about, creating square shapes and what looked like fluffy clouds surrounding them? Was it supposed to be a map of some kind And on top of the paper were small figurines of various fantasy looking characters, some recognizable as human, some not.

She glanced over at the pink-haired man who brought her into all of this who was currently sitting on a creaky wooden chair beside her, seemingly arguing about something with the dark-haired man who sat at the end of the table.

She was going to say no to him earlier. She was supposed to be gift shopping and she felt so silly when she found herself looking over comic books, realizing that Loke definitely wouldn't be interested in any of this. Somehow, she never noticed Natsu approaching her and the next thing she knew, she was answering questions about books in the fantasy genre.

She had to admit, he was cute. Not her type cute, but cute. Kind looking green eyes, cargo pants, a black t-shirt emblazoned with a red dragon that fit a visibly, somewhat muscular torso if his arms were anything to go by and weirdly, a white woolly looking scarf, knitted in a scale type design. It had just turned August and he was wearing a scarf in summer! What people wore was up to them of course but she found it strange and yet somehow it… worked?

Not her type none the less she told herself.

And then he asked her to play a game with his friends. She didn't know what it was or why he was asking her out of the blue and she really was going to decline. But then he said something about using your imagination which made her rethink that for a moment. Her imagination had been sorely lacking as of late and the inspiration wasn't flowing like it used to. Her dreams of writing her own book in the fantasy genre felt as if they were fading away with every passing day.

Still, she was going to say no. She had things to do. Responsible, adult things.

And then he smiled at her.

And that smile was one that you couldn't say no to _somehow_.

So now here she was, shifting uncomfortably in her chair, staring at a sheet she didn't understand and bewildered at where to even start with playing this 'game'. She almost bolted when the dark-haired man she came to know as 'Gray' was suddenly pants-less. The Heartfilia in her stopped her though. You kept your word as a Heartfilia and she said she would give this game a go and that was what she was going to do.

Besides, it was the authoritative, feminine voice that currently had her feeling nervous over the man who apparently had an inclination to strip on a whim. "Let me help you, Lucy. I am very knowledgeable about all aspects of the game."

Standing beside her was the scary redhead in question, peering over her with a stern expression although Lucy suspected she hadn't meant to come off in that way. The same said redhead that had caused Natsu and Gray to halt in their squabble immediately and had more or less commanded the floor since then. Lucy wondered why this woman wasn't in charge of the game that she had signed up for.

A quick introduction revealed that her name was Erza and she was one of the players. At least Lucy didn't have to feel awkward being the only girl playing.

"No way Erza, I said I'd help her out!" exclaimed Natsu who had nudged his chair closer to hers and was slamming a book down beside them and flipping through it frantically.

"Natsu, it will be easier if we both help her and get us playing the game faster," Erza calmly stated.

Lucy looked away from the paper and book in front of her for a moment as Natsu protested to Erza's help. For whatever reason, he was reluctant to let anyone else help her 'create a character', something she was hopefully going to understand pretty soon.

Her attention was now in fact focused on the last player to turn up to the table, who had been staring at them from his seat diagonally opposite hers with an amused smirk on his face. He was a tall, well-built man with wild, long, dark hair and several piercings that littered his face. She suspected he was likely to have tattoos too but his long-sleeved shirt didn't reveal much of that if it were true.

He didn't say anything other than introduce himself when he had finally turned up – that was after demanding where a guy name 'Zeref' had run off to and why 'Blondie' was taking his place. When Gray explained what had happened, the man laughed at the rest of the group's new arrangement before telling her his name was Gajeel. She told him her actual name but when he called her 'Blondie' again, she suspected that was how he would be referring to her as for the duration of the game. Some people were just like that.

"Fine! You look up the stats, I'll help her pick what to be!" Natsu announced loudly at the table, drawing Lucy's attention back to the book in front of her.

She looked back to Natsu and he was smiling reassuringly at her again – and she couldn't help but offer a small smile back.

He pointed to the book before them, now open on a page titled 'Classes'.

"Okay Lucy, we have to decide what kind of character you want to be!" he said pointing at a list, "so just choose if want to be a warrior or a ranger or some kind of wizard – your character that is."

Lucy nodded and pulled the book towards her, flipping the pages and quickly analysing the different options. This might be all new to her but many of the classes were self-explanatory. A lot of them were easily found in the different novels she had read.

"Party synergy is important too, Natsu," Erza stated. "Lucy should pick something that will benefit the whole group."

"She's new to this Erza, she should play what she wants," Natsu retorted.

Gajeel suddenly got up from his chair. "Man, I'm going for a smoke while you guys fucking sort this out. Just pick whatever, bunny girl." With that, he left the store, cigarette already in hand. Lucy wasn't sure where 'bunny girl' had suddenly come from but didn't ponder upon it.

"Maybe pick a class that is a bit easier to learn?" Gray suggested as he flicked through his phone, somewhat impatient with how long this was taking.

Lucy peered over the class list once again. She wasn't drawn to any in particular and if the novels she read were anything to go by, Erza had made a good point. The group should be varied in all manner of skills and abilities. To make her choice, she would first have to know what everyone else was playing.

She looked up to ask, "What classes are you all playing?".

Natsu grinned at her, leaning over the table to grab a small miniature human figurine and holding it up to her face. She could tell it had been painted very intricately and it was clearly some kind of wizard in a steeple hat wearing a black and gold garment with brightly colored flames decorating the hem.

"I'm playing a Draconic sorcerer called Salamander!"

She had no idea what the 'Draconic' portion of that meant other than it involved dragons in some form or another but he was definitely playing a type of wizard.

Natsu placed the figurine back on the table when Erza spoke up.

"I'm playing a fighter. Samurai archetype," she said confidently, pointing to her own figurine on the table – a woman with pointed ears and wearing a type of kimono wielding a katana.

"Yeah, and metalhead- Gajeel, is playing a bard," Natsu added on, pointing to the final figurine on the board: a shiny lizard looking humanoid holding a lute.

Lucy looked over the class list again with this new information but she found it didn't really help her in picking anything. Nothing really stood out as something she ought to play.

"You should probably pick something that matches your interests, Lucy. We all did," Erza suggested, placing her hand on Lucy's back in what Lucy could assume to be her way of reassuring her. The people here seemed very comfortable on being in each other's personal space and that felt foreign to Lucy. Her upbringing had been far from intimate. Lucy couldn't help but feel like she didn't belong in what was a group of friends that had obviously known each other for a long time.

Ignoring that and focusing on the task at hand, she thought of what Erza said about selecting a class that would match her interests. She liked reading and writing but how would that be useful in picking a character? A wizard might be suitable perhaps if the stereotype were anything to go by. Then again, Natsu was already playing a type of wizarding class.

She also liked to cook, shop and of course, she always liked astronomy but she didn't see how any of that would help her pick anything.

"I don't suppose any of these classes have anything to do with stars, right?" She asked half-jokingly, half nervously to nobody in particular.

Erza pulled away from her, her face going into deep thought. "I don't think s-"

"Yeah, there is," Natsu quickly stated, cutting Erza off.

"What? Where?" Erza demanded, yanking the book away from Lucy's hands with Lucy yelping a small squeak in response.

"No, not in the book. It's not out yet," Natsu calmly said, taking his phone from one of the pockets of his pants and quickly whizzing through it as he searched for something.

"Not out yet? You mean unreleased material?" Erza asked with a sharpness in her tone, causing Lucy to sink a little in her seat. "I'm not sure how I feel about using unfinished material in the game."

At this point, Gray finally spoke up again. "I'm the dungeon master for this game Erza, and I'll check over whatever Natsu finds before I decide to allow it or not."

Gray shrank back in his seat after saying that as if he were to expect Erza's wrath as a response.

However, Erza appeared to be pacified with this as she nodded in agreement. Lucy was quickly getting the impression Erza was definitely a stickler for the game's rules.

Lucy was starting to feel bad about taking up everyone's time on this. She should just have let them pick something for her so they can get on with their game already. She was a stranger to them after all and it didn't seem fair to just let them waste their Saturday afternoon like this.

"I can pick-" Lucy began to say.

"Found it!" Natsu cried out, holding out his phone triumphantly.

Erza leaned over, taking the phone from his grasp and started reading the contents, her fingers flicking across the phone's screen every few seconds.

"I see. It's a type of druid. It doesn't seem too overpowered to me," she finally said, holding the phone out over towards the dungeon master. "What do you think Gray?"

Lucy hadn't even agreed to whatever class it was yet but they were already checking it over as if they knew she would be picking it. She felt she probably should at this point lest she take up more of their time.

"Yeah, looks fine by me if that's what Lucy wants to play," Gray said after a quick peruse of the page on the phone, lightly tossing it back to Natsu who caught it easily.

"What is it exactly?" Lucy finally asked.

"It's a druid that can do all the usual druid stuff like shape-shifting, nature spells and all that but instead of changing into animals, you can choose to have a 'star' form instead and a whole bunch of other stuff to do with stars!" Natsu said excitedly as he turned the pages of the handbook to the section on druids.

Something about to Lucy sounded just… perfect.

"Great, I'll be that then!" Lucy quickly announced. She saw Natsu's face light up, a smug grin appearing across his face, no doubt pleased that he had been the one to find the right class for her.

The group had to decide on her character's race next. Lucy quickly settled on being a human – it seemed like the easy choice and she didn't want to hold back everyone's game any longer than she had to. Thankfully, writing a description and appearance for her character was going to be a piece of cake thanks to her love of writing.

Lucy soon had an idea for her character's personal backstory but to save time, she reserved those thoughts for later and instead focused on a name and brief description.

Within ten minutes of deciding her class, she now had a character called Luna who was a human druid with the powers of the stars. She had taken a 'background' too, something that gave her character a former profession of sorts. She had decided on the one associated with her character having nobility – something she could well relate to in a sense.

Lucy couldn't help but smile a little at her half-filled in character sheet as the others fell into easy conversation about the game around her.

No sooner than had she felt a little relieved to be almost ready to play, a slightly tanned, rough male hand was suddenly in front of her holding out a six-sided dice.

"We need to roll your stats Lucy!" came the voice of a clearly excited Natsu.

She gingerly took the dice from his palm, inadvertently feeling the warmth emanating from him and expecting the dice to be sweaty but instead found they were merely warmed.

The dice was black with the numbers standing out boldly in bright red. It was as if the dice suited Natsu somehow even though she barely knew him. Looking over to where he was sitting, he had a whole selection of dice in the same color, all in varying sizes.

Natsu seemed to be watching her expectantly as she held his dice, which left her unsure of what he wanted. A couple of moments passed before he seemed to be aware that he had been staring at her and he snapped his gaze away from her.

"So, erm…" he began speaking as he rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly, "you need to roll the dice few times so we can get your character's stats – like how strong she is or how good she is at speaking to people."

She watched as Natsu grabbed his pencil and a sheet of blank paper, presumably ready to write down the results of her rolls.

In the end, after rolling several times and watching Natsu added up the numbers in his messy handwriting, Lucy found that her character had fairly average stats. On the advice of Erza, she placed her highest number in her 'wisdom' stat as apparently that was important for a druid to have before placing her smaller numbers in other stats.

With that out of the way, she next had to roll her 'hitpoints' or what she came to understand was her character's overall health. If this reached zero, her character would die.

Finally, she had to pick some spells. Once again Natsu jumped in to volunteer to choose some for her but was quickly stopped by Gray.

"Don't let Natsu pick your spells, Lucy, he'll only pick the ones with fire in them."

"No way! Fire spells are _my_ thing, Gray!"

"Are you gonna even read what the other spells do?"

"Yeah, why wouldn't I?!"

As if sensing an incoming argument, Lucy could have sworn Erza let out a faint but definitely audible growl.

"Ahem," she merely said in a darkened tone, causing Lucy to tense up slightly. The woman was just downright scary!

It was Erza that helped Lucy pick some spells for her character in the end. She only had to pick four in total so it wasn't too bad. Remembering the classes that everyone else was playing and on Erza's advice, Lucy took at least one healing spell as that seemed to be what everyone lacked within the group.

It was at this point that Gajeel had returned to the table, having taken quite a while on his smoke break. Lucy didn't miss his sly glance over at her now mostly-filled-in character sheet.

"Are you all finally ready to play yet?" He called as he plodded into his seat and tucking away his cigarette packet into the front pocket of his leather jacket.

"Yeah, I think so man," Gray responded as he placed several dice of varying colors and sizes in front of Lucy. No doubt they were his spares as none of them matched like Natsu's black and red set did.

Lucy could see that both Gajeel and Erza had their own sets too. Gajeel's looked as if they were heavy as they seemed incredibly metallic in color. Perhaps they were just solid lumps of steel or iron? Erza's, on the other hand, seemed to be similar to Natsu's dice, red in color with pearly white numbers adorning the sides.

"Right, I'll give a quick introduction for Lucy and then we'll continue off from last time, alright?" Gray said, causing the table to quieten down except for the sound of Natsu munching on yet another bag of chips.

* * *

"Luna, you find yourself standing before the entrance of a wide, towering building. You know this place to be the local adventurer's guild. Having grown bored with your life as a noble, you sought this place out. Do you enter?"

Lucy had to admit, it was a strange, almost surreal experience. The loud, boisterous group had fallen silent as Gray spoke with complete authority over the group. Whereas Natsu seemed to be easily challenged by most things that Gray had said before and the times that Erza had taken control of the situation, the both of them seemed to quieten as if there was an unspoken rule about interrupting Gray during the actual game.

"Yes, Luna enters the building," Lucy answered. She wasn't sure if that was how she was supposed to be responding to her character's movements within the game but she figured answering plainly was easiest. Perhaps watching the others would yield more answers on how she was supposed to play.

"Okay, before you is a large hall, packed with people that are all eating and drinking at tables spread around the place. There's a bar at the end of the hall and a board not far from that filled with fliers. What do you do?" Gray continued.

"I erm… I go to get a drink at the bar."

Gray looked at her curiously before turning his head to read something hidden behind his screen: an unseen dice roll followed shortly after.

She was now unsure if that was the right thing to do and found herself looking at Natsu for guidance. He grinned at her, seemingly unbothered while shoveling a handful of chips into his mouth. Did he ever stop eating?

Lucy, however, quickly snapped her head back towards Gray when what he did next was incredibly unexpected. He inhaled deeply and began to speak.

"Hello there, miss, welcome to Fairy Tail! What can I get for ya this evening?" He said but with a clearly put on, gruff voice of what could only be described as 'one of the rougher, older, fisherman at Hargeon's ports'.

Lucy felt as if she was a deer frozen in headlights, shocked by Gray's change in vocalisation. What on Earthland was he doing?

Gray looked at her expectantly and Lucy felt a desperate need to look anywhere else but at him. She wasn't embarrassed per se at Gray's sudden voice change but more so at her utter lack of understanding of how she was supposed to respond to it.

Unfortunately, everyone else on the table was now watching her expectantly too.

"Psst, Lucy…"

Hot breath beside ear made her shiver strangely as she felt what was evidently Natsu's mouth brush close to her.

"Just pretend you're Luna right now and play along."

The sudden heat against her neck and ears was gone just as quickly as it came and Lucy felt herself let a breath out, unaware she had even held her breath in the first place. There was something about the way Natsu had just invaded her personal space to whisper to her like that which made her feel a little jittery inside.

Nerves. Yes, nerves. That was it. Pretend to be Luna, that's easy enough. Improvise and go with it.

"Y-yes… I would like e-erm… mead?" She managed to squeak out in her usual voice. If Gray's expression was anything to go by, he at least looked somewhat happy that she tried? She had no idea what to ask for, she just went with what beverage was commonly found in fantasy novels.

"Mead? That's not the cheapest around here missy! Comes from all the way from the Northlands that. It'll be two gold a stein!" He responded in his put on, gruff voice.

Two gold? Lucy wasn't sure how much she had but that should be on her sheet, right?

A quick glance revealed that she had in fact, eight gold. Whether two gold for a drink was good value or not was completely lost to her at the moment but at the risk of not taking up everyone's playtime, she decided to go with it.

"S-sure," she followed up with.

"That'll be two gold then," Gray reiterated.

"Okay. I'll erm, hand over two gold?" Lucy said, unsure if she was doing this right.

"The tavern-keep pours you a stein of mead and gets back to work." Gray continued, switching back to his regular voice. "Everyone else," He briefly glanced over at Erza and Gajeel, ignoring Natsu completely. "you have been sitting at one of the tables for a while now with your food and drinks. The next job you want to take is sitting on a flier in front of you but you know you'll need at least one other person, what do you all do?"

At this point, Erza, Gajeel and Natsu, quiet as they were before were now suddenly talking among themselves freely.

"Metalicana is gonna go up onto the stage and play one of his newly written songs," Gajeel announced with a smirk.

Gray nodded. "Okay, since everyone in here knows you, nobody stops you from doing that. Roll a D20."

Unsure of what Gray meant, Lucy waited to see what Gajeel would do next.

His right hand plucked a single dice from his shiny collection and he rolled it onto the table in front of him, but away from the figurines. It became quickly obvious to Lucy why it was called a 'D20' - it was the twenty-sided dice.

"13!" Gajeel remarked loudly upon reading the number on the dice. "And I have three points in performance so that makes it 16 in total." His steeled expression was a smug one.

"The patrons near the stage enjoy your song and you earn…" Gray rolled yet another dice behind in screen. "… three gold in tips."

Suddenly Lucy didn't feel so bad about spending a quarter of her gold on a drink if Gajeel's character could earn it that easily.

Erza was next to announce what she was doing. "Titania goes to tavern-keep, demanding more information on the quest the party intends to pursue."

"Boring! Salamander is gonna look for the nearest, biggest guy and challenge him to a fight," Natsu loudly proclaimed, earning himself a stern glare from Erza.

"Natsu, we're supposed to be introducing our characters to Lucy's," she reminded him.

"It's not like any of you are doin' it!"

"You wanted to help her out didn't you?"

"Oh right, yeah," Natsu looked apologetically back at Lucy who was uncertain of what anyone was trying to achieve at this point. Was this how the game was played? "Sorry, Lucy," he then said, turning to Gray afterwards. " _Actually_ , Salamander spots the weird-looking druid-"

"Hey!" Lucy huffed before her rapid shyness kicked back in.

"-and goes up to her to say hi."

The game was now feeling like a recurrence of what had happened about an hour ago when Natsu has originally approached her, Lucy mused.

At this point, looking at Natsu, Gray interjected. "I'm not even gonna point out that your character has no way of knowing she's a druid but whatever, let's get this going."

He turned his attention back to Lucy.

"Okay, 'Luna', you see a man dressed in black approaching you with a dumb look on his face-"

"No, he doesn't, Ice Princess!"

"-How do you react?"

Normally when guys approach in her a bar, it's often to ask her out or maybe Cana if they're together at the time. Knowing that this is supposed to be a way for her character to join up with everyone as Gray previously explained, she could assume that Natsu definitely wouldn't be doing that. Role-playing as a character she created less than an hour ago was not as easy as it seems… but it didn't feel completely unnatural to her either.  
"I will… say hi I guess?"

"Sup!" Natsu responded cheerfully, but he didn't bother changing his voice at all. It wasn't easy to tell if he was playing along but given the context of the situation, Lucy assumed he was.

He soon followed up his greeting, "You look like a capable adventurer, wanna join our team?"

Lucy pondered how to respond. It seemed she wouldn't have to put on a voice for her character but the writer in her urged her to say something befitting of the setting.

"A team you say? Pray tell, what would you ask of me on such a team?" Lucy couldn't help but accentuate her words and she knew she probably overdid it… but it felt fun. If Natsu's expression was anything to go by, he certainly appreciated her attempt at playing along.

"We have a job that needs us to go and get a magical item from a haunted mine or something. You in?" He asked her character.

"Hmm, does it pay well?"

Natsu's attention suddenly switched to Gray as he looked unsure of himself. Before Gray could say anything, Erza cut in, evidently listening in on their attempts at being in character.

"The quest will give us one hundred gold, Natsu," she answered the obvious question that was about to be asked.

"Right, yeah. Forget." Natsu replied before switching back to Lucy.

"One hundred gold split between us!" He had his character say, his tone returning to a cheerful one.

Lucy quickly figured that would mean twenty-five gold each and that was certainly a lot more than the six gold she had.

"Very well, I shall join you on your quest!" She proclaimed equally as cheery, holding back a small giggle as she mentally chastised herself for playing along with this strange and silly game. She had barely done anything yet but it was kind of fun!

After character introductions between all of them, the party of four set off for the mines that Natsu had mentioned.

Gray began giving a clear description of what awaited them, providing details of the surroundings and giving them all the option to light torches to light the way. It was at this point he placed down some different squared paper in the middle of the table.

The paper clearly contained a map of a tunnel system although Gray concealed much of it by placing blank paper over many of the sections of the original so exploring it would remain a mystery.

Erza then placed each figurine (which Erza kindly informed Lucy were called 'miniatures') at what Lucy assumed was the entrance of the 'mines'. Noticing that there was no such miniature for Lucy's character, Gray handed Erza a generic-looking villager miniature which didn't resemble Lucy's character's description by any means.

"Titania has 'Darkvision', she doesn't require a torch to see," Erza earnestly stated.

"You'd think a 'Dragonborn' would be able to see the dark. Tch," Gajeel said unamused.

"Yeah, and me and Lucy are just humans so I'll just light a torch," Natsu added before suddenly slamming a fist into his open palm with a twinkle in his eyes. "I know! I'll use my 'Control Flames' spell to double the brightness of the torch!"

"That's good thinking Natsu," Erza commended.

Lucy sat silently, patiently. Pretending to be her character was one thing, but now the group seemed to be getting a bit more technical with the gameplay. She was unsure of any of the terms they had just mentioned meant although she had a rough idea of what was going on.

Gray began describing what the group could see and revealed a fork in the tunnels, leaving everyone to decide with direction to take.

"Hey guys, how's the game going?" Came a cheery voice from the other side of Natsu.

Lucy looked over to see one of the store workers, dressed a plain t-shirt featuring the store logo across the chest and skinny jeans standing near the other end of the table. With her short silver hair in cute bunches and feminine face, she beamed with a happy smile.

"Hello, Lisanna," Erza greeted first. "How's work today?"

"Oh, you know, the usual!" She cheerfully replied. Her gaze briefly caught Lucy's and she gave a meager smile that was well, unreadable.

Natsu turned her and gave her a small wave. "Yo! Lisanna! Gray's got us going to some mines today."

"Is that right? Sounds scary!"

"Nah, will be easy with my fire magic."

Lucy noticed the friendly, relaxed nature between the two of them as they talked, as well as the way Lisanna appeared to light up as Natsu spoke to her. They were clearly good friends although something about Lisanna suggested something more was there? She supposed it wasn't really any of her business but something about the interaction sat a little weirdly with her, not that she could place why.

"Oh, Natsu?" Lisanna called out just as she was about to leave them to their game.

"Yeah?"

"If you want me to get you some more snacks or anything, just let me know, okay?" Lisanna said with a sparkle in her eyes.

Lucy heard Gray fidgeting behind her in his seat at the end of the table and spared him a look to see him roll his eyes at the interaction. She wasn't sure what that was about but noticed he mutter something under his breath, not that she could catch what it was.

Natsu positively beamed back at the silver-haired girl. "Thanks, Lisanna!"  
He turned back to the table and all eyes fell on him. Lucy noted he looked not only happy but there was some sort of… innocence to him too?

Lucy decided to ignore it, it wasn't her business what the relationships between these people were, even if she was a little intrigued for reasons she couldn't place. She was supposed to be giving this game a shot and her curiosity about what would happen next was ebbing at her.

"Anyway, which way were you all going?" Gray finally asked.

"Metalicana is just gonna head right," Gajeel stated with an eagerness to get on with things. Nobody seemed to argue with this. Natsu opened yet another bag of chips.

Gray rolled another dice behind his screen. "As you make your way down the tunnel, you hear the sounds of small footsteps ahead of you. With Salamander's flames and Titania's darkvision, you can all see three, small, Draconic looking humanoids ahead bearing daggers in their hands."

Gray looked over to Gajeel who was lazily sitting back in his seat.

"Gajeel, your character knows immediately what these creatures are. Does he want to tell everyone else this information?" He asked.

"Hey, why does he know and I don't?!" Natsu cried out.

"Natsu, let them speak." Erza reminded him with a glare which quickly caused the pink-haired man to sit back in his seat with a pout. Lucy found it a little funny and dare she say it, a little cute too – not that many guys really want to be seen as 'cute'.

"Yeah, I'll tell em," Gajeel stated.

"Okay. Metalicana informs you all that the creatures ahead are 'Kobolds', a type of reptilian that often serves dragonkind." Gray tells everyone.

"They clearly wanna fight so let's fight!" Natsu yells out.

Erza quickly spoke up as the voice of reason. "Natsu, they serve dragonkind, maybe we could reason with them. Both Metalicana and Salamander speak Draconic, right?" Lucy gathered that Erza didn't seem to be as 'in character' much although Gajeel was the quietest of the group aside from herself of course.

"Yeah, he does." Gajeel confirmed.

"No way metalhead's doin' it. I'm gonna talk to them!" Natsu declared. Evidently there was some kind of rivalry between the two characters with 'Draconic' traits that Lucy was becoming aware of.  
With that, Natsu turned to Gray. "I'm gonna try and talk to them in Draconic and see if they are friendly."

"Okay then Natsu, roll a, err… persuasion check I guess if you're trying to convince them you mean no harm." Gray said, raising an eyebrow at his friend.

Natsu grabbed his own D20 and began to shake it in his hand excitedly before letting it roll onto the center of the table. Lucy watched with bated breath at the outcome. She had already understood from earlier that the higher the number, the better.

The dice stilled and the number '2' was now staring them all in the face.

Gajeel let out a roar of laughter.

"A two. Very nice Natsu." Erza said sarcastically as Natsu was rendered speechless by his incredibly low roll.

Lucy tried to hold in her own laughter at the shocked expression on his face as well as the amused looks on his friend's faces but she couldn't help the small giggle that escaped her lips. She didn't think anyone heard her until Natsu turned to look at her with a mixture of surprise and betrayal. Then his face softened into a small smile which left her feeling her face heat up and she lowered her head to hide the light blush flooding across her cheeks.

"Okay flame boy, with your character's proficiency, you have a grand score of 4 so you succeeded in pissing them all off. Everyone, you're going to need to roll initiative." Gray stated.

Without needing to ask, Natsu leaned over to Lucy. "That means you roll one of these-" He held up his D20. "And add your initiative score to it" He then pointed to said stat on her character sheet. Lucy could see he looked excited all of a sudden, his poor roll instantly forgotten.

"Why do we need to roll?" She asked.

"We're going into combat!" He stated excitedly.

Lucy did as he said and her combined score was a 7. This put her last apparently but she didn't mind as it gave her a chance to see what everyone else was going to do.

Erza rolled highest and so she would take her turn first.

"I'm going to use my movement to approach this kobold." She pointed to one of the three kobolds on the board. "And make a melee attack against it."

Without needing to ask, Erza immediately rolled her D20 just as Natsu did before, only hers revealed a '20'.

"What the hell?!" Natsu frustratingly shouted.

"Alright! A critical; roll your damage Erza." Gray said.

Lucy wasn't sure what was happening after that. Erza rolled a couple of her other dice as well as adding numbers from her own character sheet and by the end of it, Gray informed them all that the kobold was dead.

Natsu took his turn next with a gleam in his eyes as he proudly announced he would be using a 'firebolt' spell on one of the other kobolds. He rolled better this time, scoring a 14 and then rolling his damage using a smaller dice afterwards. Unlike Erza, his spell didn't instantly kill the target. Gajeel took his turn next and took the opportunity to finish off the kobold that Natsu attacked.

At this point, it was now Lucy's turn. Based on everyone turns so far, she could either attack physically or use a spell. Erza's rolls confused her so she opted for using one of her spells.

"Take your time Lucy." Erza calmly reminded her as Lucy looked over the spells that her character had. As a fast reader, it didn't take her long to decide on which spell she had that could do damage. She went with her 'Thorn Whip' spell.

She gingerly took out the D20 that she was given and rolled it to determine whether the spell would hit the remaining kobold. Natsu gave her a thumbs up and she felt a little more confident.

Unfortunately for her, she rolled a 6. Luck had clearly abandoned her today.

"Your spell misses. Do you do anything else?" Gray asked.

"...I don't think there is anything else I can do?" To be honest, she had no idea. Nobody else had done anything except move their characters and she didn't see what benefit that would give her at the moment. She turned to the rest of the table with her head down. "I'm sorry guys."

"Don't be sorry Lucy! We can't always roll good!" Natsu stated, giving her a small pat on the back that caused her to tense up. He didn't seem to notice that however.

"Natsu's correct Lucy. We're a team and we're doing just fine." Erza reassured her.

Gray then announced two more kobolds had joined the fray from further down the tunnel and each kobold took their turns to attack the party. The kobolds took their turns to primarily attack Erza but she didn't seem concerned about her hit points that the kobolds chipped away at. The kobold that Lucy failed to hit with her spell though decided to attack Natsu's character and unlike Titania and her armor, Salamander took a nastier hit.

"What the hell Gray! You're attacking me on purpose!" Natsu shouted across the table at the raven-haired man.

"I'm not you idiot, it's the dice that decide who attacks what."

The next round began with the same unchanging order as before. Erza attacked one of the new kobolds, also instantly killing it. Natsu used a different fire spell this time, 'Burning Hands' which killed another kobold and wounded the other. Gray also pointed out that this spell also set fire to a nearby mine cart and all its contents.

"Fuck's sake Salamander." was Gajeel's take on the situation.

Gajeel however, missed his next attack.

Lucy's turn came around again and she had a choice to attempt an attack on the remaining kobold again if she wanted to. She found her self hesitating. She thought about it carefully. After her turn was done, the remaining kobold would be able to attack if she missed again. She spared a glance at Natsu who was watching her confidently – as if he already fully trusted her to pull off her next move, even if it were down to the luck of the dice.

She decided on a better option. In the outcome that she did miss again, the kobold may attack Natsu's character who had already taken a large hit. One of Luna's spells was called 'Cure Wounds' - it made sense to heal Salamander instead in case of that outcome.

"I move Luna here..." Lucy said as she leaned over the table, lifting her make-do miniature to stand beside Natsu's. "… and I cast cure wounds on Salamander."

She looked at Natsu to gauge his reaction and it one of surprise followed by that damn toothy smile again.

"Okay Lucy, you don't need to roll a D20 for that, you just need to roll for the healing instructed by the spell." Gray said.

Lucy quickly read the spell again, quickly figuring out she needed to roll an eight-sided dice and add one of her stats to it to determine how many hit points Natsu would get back. Luckily, she rolled a 7 and combining it with her stats brought his character's health back to full.

"Thanks Lucy!" Natsu said, giving her a thumbs up.

The remaining kobold ended up attacking Erza's character but it missed and Erza finished it off in the following round. "Excellent work everyone."

The party then made their way down a little further down the tunnel before Gray halted the group from progressing.

"It's time we called it there." He said. "Sorry guys, you know I have to go a bit earlier today."

Lucy soon broke her head away from the game. How long had she been playing for? A quick glance at her phone read 20:00. Four hours? She had been in this place that long? Her eyes widened at the fact she had let time run away from her like that.

"Something wrong?"

Lucy looked back to Natsu who was watching her with concern.

"No, just I didn't realize how long I was here for."

"But you had fun, right?"

She did. She hadn't expected it at all. She was already imagining on how to extend her character's story and maybe even write down the adventure she had just begun. "I did Natsu, thank you."

He beamed back at her. "Good, told you ya would!"

All thoughts of wondering what would happen next in the adventure would be put on pause as she remembered that she joined in this game on a whim. This group clearly had this game as an ongoing thing _and_ they were all friends _and_ she was but a random stranger that for some reason Natsu had picked her out from everyone else that was in the store at the time. Would she even get to play with them again?

Her question was quickly answered.

"You'll come next week to play again, yeah?" Natsu asked as he began to gather up his empty snack bags from around the table as the others packed away their things. Lucy found herself doing the same; gently folding away her character sheet into her HK shoulder bag.

"If I'm allowed to…" Lucy forlornly replied.

"Why wouldn't you be?" Natsu asked, offering her a confused look at her answer.

"What if you guys don't want me to play with you again?" Her voice quivered with uncertainty.

"What are ya talking about? Of course we do! Right guys?" Natsu loudly exclaimed, twisting his head over to everyone else.

Erza looked up from packing away her backpack. "I'm okay with that. You're more than welcome to join us again Lucy."

"If that's what you want bunny girl." Gajeel was already on his way out with a cigarette in his hand. "Later."

"Yeah, I'm cool with it," Gray added as he put away his screen.

Natsu turned back to Lucy. "See! So next Saturday yeah? Same time as before."

Lucy couldn't help but blush a little. It felt nice: really nice to be wanted. It felt like it had been a while since she had been around friendly company what with her other friends each having their own lives to get on with. The effort Natsu was taking to make her feel included felt as if he was going way beyond was necessary but she'd be lying if she didn't appreciate it.

"Y-yeah. I'll be there." She finally answered with a smile.

And as expected, she got that damn smile straight back at her again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, for the exact characters that everyone is playing for any D&D players out there:
> 
> Natsu: *Human Sorcerer with Draconic Red Dragon Ancestry called Salamander  
> Erza: Half-Elf Warrior with the Samurai archetype called Titania  
> Gajeel: Dragonborn (Copper) Sword Bard called Metalicana  
> Lucy: Human Druid with speciality 'Circle of Stars' called Luna
> 
> *If you are wondering why Natsu didn't pick a Dragonborn as his character – I wanted him and Gajeel to have noticeably different characters and kept in mind Natsu's statement in the manga/anime that he was a human and not dragon/demon.
> 
> **Currently unreleased official content for D&D at the time of writing this chapter. I did think about making Lucy as some sort of wizard that specialised in conjuration or divination but upon finding about all star-related abilities for the druid class, I knew she just had to go with that!
> 
> I'm not sure when I'll get chapter 3 up and I'll probably be distracted by the new Fairy Tail video game coming out in a few days but it shouldn't be that long a wait.


	3. Be Wary of Traps

**Wednesday, August 5th**

_"… Oh hey, Lucy! How are you?"_

It was late Wednesday morning when Lucy had decided to call a good friend of hers to catch up. The blonde was currently in the process of painting her toenails whilst sat in the comfy confines of her bed as she precariously held the phone by her knee to her ear.

"Morning Levy, I'm good thanks. How's the studying going?"

_"It's actually going really well! I wasn't sure about taking a summer class but I'm glad I did, it's going to make finishing next semester much easier."_

A small smile graced Lucy's face. Levy had transferred to her school some years ago, back when she still lived in Crocus. They had become fast friends after finding each other in the library. Levy had worked really hard to get into Crocus University, knowing all the demands that would come with it. If anyone could succeed with the immense amount of pressure and studying that it required of you to be there, it would be Levy without a shadow of a doubt.

"That's great! I'm missing you already. It feels like I barely had any time over summer to see you."

It was true. Lucy had just finished her second year at Magnolia college and was left with no time to celebrate as unfortunately, her degree required her to take an internship for a year to gain experience. After a lonely week of winding down from the last of her exams, she was already entering an office environment with a slow, company-issued laptop.

_"I know Lucy, I know. I get a break in October though so I'll make sure to come back to Magnolia for a visit then!"_

"Can't wait! By the way, did you get a chance to go to that book signing I told you about?"

_"No… I didn't sorry. I've just had so much to do. But enough about me, what about you? How's the internship going?"_

Lucy put down her nail polish, pleased with the results and embracing the need to hold the phone properly to her ear. She couldn't hold back the obvious disdain for how she felt about her assignment. "Ugh, it's awful. I'm supposed to be getting experience but I spent most of the time being some guy's PA."

_"Some guy?"_

Lucy frowned as she pictured him in her mind. That annoying smug look he portrayed as his attempts at chivalry included commenting on her looks constantly, insisting she take notes for him and the occasional ogle of the top half of her body. She wouldn't mind the comments on her appearance so much as she did take the effort to make herself look good in her mind, but the man was bordering on lecherous at times.

"He's not my boss-boss but someone I report to as an intern. His name is Dan and he's a bit of a flirt."

 _"Oh! He's not your type by chance is he?!"_ Levy almost shouted with trepidation. Ever since Lucy decided to talk about their own personal tastes in men, not that she'd ever been in a physical relationship, Levy still wallowed in the chance to tease her about potential suitors. She was almost as bad as Cana sometimes.

"No, no, no. Definitely not. Far from it."

 _"And what was your type again Lucy?"_ Levy asked in friendly mockery, _"Tall, dark, handsome, intelligent, assertive? Something like that?"_

Lucy laid back on her bed, her eyes rolling up at the thought of such a man that she could call her boyfriend. "Ohhhh, that would be wonderful Levy…"

Lucy hadn't kept it a secret among her female friends in what she looked for in a man in any way. So far, she hadn't had any luck with meeting anyone that met her expectations. There were a lot of dates that didn't go anywhere and a lot of men that showed more interest in her 'assets' more than her personality. Her father had always referred to her as 'Lucky Lucy' but when it came to love, there was clearly no luck to be found there.

_"You expect too much, Lucy! You need to find someone that can make you happy. I think that's the most important thing. Speaking of handsome men, did you find that gift for Loke yet?"_

"No… I haven't. I got distracted last weekend. You wouldn't believe what happened to me."

_"Do tell!"_

"I, well, may have ended up playing a type of roleplay game at the local gaming store…"

_"Roleplay?! Lucy did yo-"_

Anticipating where this conversation was going, Lucy jolted up from her bed, bouncing lightly against the duvet covered mattress. "NO!" Lucy blushed. "N-nothing like that! It was more like pretending to be fantasy characters in a fictional world that someone had created."

_"So- you did some sort of dress-up event?"_

"No, it was more like a board game but without a board... I'm sorry, that doesn't make a lot of sense."

_"What was this game called?"_

"Dungeons and Dragons."

It had been four days since Lucy had played the odd fantasy game with a bunch of strangers. Truth be told, she had thought about it a lot since then and by a lot, she meant that she had already researched everything she needed to know about how to write a proper backstory for her character as well as the general rules of playing the game. If she was going to play again, she would be prepared and not hold everyone else back.

_"Oh! Was it at the Strauss Gaming Store? I know about that place!"_

Lucy raised an eyebrow at this. Levy was originally from Magnolia and had attended school here before leaving for Crocus. She hadn't expected Levy to be familiar with that store in particular though.

"You do?"

_"Yeah, I had some acquaintances from high school that went there to play games. There was this one guy…"_

Despite not being able to physically see Levy, she could almost feel her friend tense up upon hearing her voice hitch up as she spoke. There was a pause from the girl and Lucy was left wondering what had happened or why Levy sounded as if she could have been in pain.

"… Levy?"

 _"… Sorry, a story for another day I think. How did you end up playing with them?"_ Lucy wasn't about to pry. People were entitled to their secrets, even if she wanted to know what could have caused her friend to be taken aback so suddenly. She decided to move on and answer the question.

"I went in looking for gift for Loke. I don't even know why, I was desperate… and then as I was browsing, someone came up to me and started asking me things about books before asking me to join in their game. It was really unexpected!"

Levy hummed in thought. _"Yeah, that does sound weird. Who was the guy?"_

"His name was Natsu."

 _"Oh. Oh!"_ Levy's voice now one of sudden realization, as if everything now clicked into place.

"What is it?"

_"I remember him, he was the school's troublemaker back in the day. I mean, I was only there for a year but now it makes perfect sense why he'd ask you out of the blue! He was always the kind of guy that was just up front about things and kind of blunt."_

"You make it sound like it's a good thing Levy…"

_"Isn't it though? You sound like you had fun."_

"… I suppose I did."

That was a bit of understatement. Lucy had a lot more fun than she was willing to admit. With Levy already knowing some of the people that played D&D, Lucy was certainly a bit more curious about who else she might know too.

 _"Are you going back there to play again?"_ Levy asked.

"I said I would and you know I always keep my word."

_"But you **want** to though, right?"_

There was no denying it of course. "… I do, Levy. It's given me so many ideas for my book!"

_"That's great, Lucy! Just remember to get Loke's birthday present though, it's what, less than two weeks till his party?"_

Lucy frowned with frustration, rolling slightly on her bed in discomfort at the thought. Not so much for Loke but at the idea of going back out to continue her dreaded search. "I know, but I'm really stumped on what to get him."

_"You could always ask Cana to help you out but at the end of the day, it's Loke, he'll love anything you give him."_

"What's that supposed to mean?"

 _"Ohhh, nothing,"_ came Levy's coy voice as Lucy heard shuffling in the background. _"Anyway, I need to go, I've got a class soon. We will talk again soon, yeah?"_

"Of course Levy."

_"Okay, bye for now!"_

"Bye…"

Lucy was now lonely again. Sure, it was her day off from working on her four days-a-week schedule with one day meant for studying, but what fun was a day off when you have no one to spend it with? With Levy in the city that she once called her home and her remaining friends, Cana and Loke both having full-time jobs, she was lacking the social company that she desired. She didn't feel particularly inspired to write at the moment either. With a frustrated moan, she pulled out her company laptop and decided to look over how to play a druid once again.

* * *

**Saturday, August 8t** **h**

It was close to 4pm in the afternoon and Lucy already felt her nerves getting to her. Her feet autonomously carried her in the direction of the tabletop store but her mind felt as if it were running a mile a minute. What if they weren't there? What if they were hoping she wouldn't show up so they wouldn't have to awkwardly ask her to leave? What if they found someone else to play instead? Lucy didn't want to doubt what they had said last week but she knew that was one of her own weaknesses – uncertainty and lacking confidence about her own abilities.

They were characteristics she was working on. Choosing to go to Magnolia for college was a good decision on her part, much to her father's dissatisfaction and irritation. She had the option – well, she was encouraged to, to join Levy at Crocus university but she wouldn't have earned it as she did. Money was never the answer to all.

In the two years that she had been here in Magnolia, she had worked hard on her self-confidence and even made a couple of friends although she didn't get to see them as often as she would have liked.

The store was in her eyesight now and Lucy once again tried to cast her doubts away.

She hesitated for a second, taking a deep breath to steady herself before pushing the front door open, the familiar bell ringing overhead and alerting the store employees to her presence.

Much like the week before, the store wasn't too busy. Two women were standing behind the counter, happily chatting together. One she recognized as Lisanna from last week, the other looked as if she were a slightly older version of her, with stunning looks and beautiful silver hair that made Lucy feel a little jealous that she wasn't blessed with such natural beauty.

She nervously tucked a stray hair behind her ear as she quickly looked around for the group of friends that were _hopefully_ expecting her. The table they had played at was partially hidden by the tall rows of the store's merchandise but she spotted a familiar shade of pink bobbing over the top of one.

Taking a nervous gulp, Lucy approached the table, turning the corner and giving the two women by the counter a little wave in passing, not waiting to see if they returned the gesture or not. She didn't want to know if they welcomed her here – it's not like she had actually bought anything yet of which she felt a little guilty for.

Instead, her gaze fixed to the table where she spotted Natsu casually leaning over a mess of papers and dice. Gray was sitting in the same position as he was last Saturday, at the end of the table with his dungeon master's screen placed directly in front of him. The screen itself was interesting; Lucy couldn't see the inside contents but the outside contained an image of what Lucy thought might be Erza's palace from _Frozen_ but she seriously doubted Gray would have something like that. It looked 'frosty', that would be the best way of describing it.

Both of the men's eyes caught Lucy's and the curves of Natsu's mouth twisted into a wide smile in greeting.

"Lucy! You came back!" He declared, leaving the table to come to greet her although avoided physically touching her.

"Y-yeah. I said I would," she stuttered, surprised by his overly friendly response to her presence.

"Nice to see you again Lucy," Gray said from his seat, giving a small nod. "I wasn't sure if you would turn up but glad you did. Pinkie here wouldn't stop fretting about you not showing."

Lucy could scarcely believe that. She barely knew them still. She looked at Natsu, "You were?"

"Well… yeah! You're part of the group now!" He plainly answered as if that should have been obvious. He wasted no time in going back to his seat, motioning for Lucy to come to sit down beside him much like before.

Taking her seat and tucking her hand into her shoulder bag to retrieve her neatly folded away character sheet, now fully filled in with a probably too extensive backstory, Lucy mentally tried to calm herself down and remember everything she had taught herself about the game. Naturally, Natsu spotted the paragraphs of writing on the sheet as well as the extra pages Lucy had used to continue writing.

"Is that all for your character's story?" He asked in awe, tapping a rough finger lightly on her work.

"Yes, I worked really hard on it. Is it a bit too much?" Lucy replied, hesitant about his response. Was she trying too hard?

"No… but I don't think you're gonna need it all. You really like writing huh?"

Her face lit up, but she held back from expelling her desire to talk about writing. Lucy had a feeling that Natsu was not a writer in any sense of the word and she wouldn't want to bore him.

"Yeah, I love to write, it's a passion of mine."

"That makes sense."

"It does?"

"Yeah, you like reading all those books and all that."

Lucy was a little surprised he remembered that. She figured that would be information about herself to be easily forgotten. Honestly, it made her feel a little honored that their brief conversation was memorable. A slight blush tingled her cheeks once again and she couldn't help but shyly turn away. For the life of her, she couldn't figure out why it kept happening.

Instead, she decided an abrupt change of topic would be the best course of action.

"So where are Erza and Gajeel?" She asked.

"Erza'll turn up exactly on time like she always does. Metalhead? I dunno, I only ever really see him at work other than here." Natsu answered.

A small metaphorical light bulb went off in Lucy's mind. Natsu and Gajeel knew each other from work. Perhaps everyone isn't from the same school as Levy had implied.

"You work with him? What do you do?" Lucy decided to inquire.

Natsu answered quickly, without much description attached. "Welding."

Lucy hadn't expected that. He was a welder? It could explain why he looked physically fit under his t-shirt.

"What about you, Lucy?" He asked in return, not expanding any further on his job.

"Oh, I'm um, in college but I've just started an internship for a year."

"Doin' what?"

"It's for a fashion magazine. I want the writing experience but I haven't been there very long so I've sort of been given menial jobs to do for now."

Natsu sat back in his chair, a contemplative look appearing on his face. "Huh."

"… What?"

"It's just weird is all."

"What? Why on Earthland would that be weird?"

"You liked all those fantasy books and you're playing D&D with us now." He cocked his head to the side with a mischievous glint in his bold, green eyes. "Didn't think you'd be into something dumb like fashion!"

Lucy eyebrow may have twitched with just a little annoyance. Levy wasn't kidding when she said he was blunt. She actually did have an interest in fashion with Heart Kreuz topping her list of most desirable brands of clothing, not that she could afford any of it anymore due to her financial circumstances. Her shoulder bag was one such branded accessory that she had been trying her hardest to look after, even if it was from an older trend a few years ago.

With a frown and resisting the urge to jab him in his gut, "That's not very nice, Natsu. What if I told you that I think dragons are dumb!" Lucy retorted. She may not have known him for very long but it was obvious that he had a real passion for the fantasy creature if his nerdy interests, t-shirt and D&D character were anything to go by.

He looked taken aback, his eyes widening before suddenly appearing very focused. She was almost expecting him to be annoyed but she could see no such emotion on him.

"Dragons aren't dumb! They're awesome!" He almost shouted back.

Gray chose this moment to speak up. "Relax fire clown, she's just making a point about what you said."

Natsu's attention briefly turned to Gray, frowning intensely at him. He opened his mouth as if to say something but quickly snapped it shut again, returning to look at Lucy instead. Did she really cross a big line by suggesting dragons were dumb? It felt all so childish.

Unable to keep her eyes locked with his, Lucy instead chose to observe the strange look on Gray's face. It seemed as if Gray were expecting Natsu to respond to his insult but instead he chose not to and it left the dungeon master looking a bit perplexed.

Lucy, however, wasn't ready to _not_ play Dungeons and Dragons anymore. She worked hard on her character and the last thing she wanted was to upset anyone at the table and not be invited back. She felt the need to say something, to apologize and hope she wouldn't be hated over such a trivial thing, even if she did feel that she was in the right.

Looking at Natsu, she muttered out, "I… don't think dragons are dumb.", shrinking back into her chair in the process.

Natsu's intent stare quickly loosened up as if he hadn't realized he had been doing it.

"I know you don't!" he happily said and then he simply turned around to look over at the store's counter, eyeing up the various bags of chips, candy and canned drinks.

Lucy was bewildered by the awkward interaction. Maybe she overreacted to his insult about her working for a fashion magazine? Was it even meant as an insult? He didn't come across as malicious in the slightest. Was he looking away from her now because he was just concealing his annoyance with her?

She looked over at Gray for answers but his own attention had returned to his reading his notes. She suspected he wasn't always quiet but merely determined to have his game set up precisely how he wanted it, as though he was carefully crafting every detail concerning it meticulously.

"Lucy, you want anything to eat?"

Lucy snapped back to Natsu and curiously, Gray's eyes did too.

The dungeon master raised his voice, "What the hell man, you never offer me any snacks!"

Natsu shrugged at him. "You sell ice cream for a living, Snowflake. You can just bring that with you."

"Even you're not stupid enough to know that I can't do that."

Natsu, ignoring him in favor of turning his attention back to the counter although Lucy noticed that Lisanna was now absent leaving only the prettiest woman that Lucy had ever seen continue to radiate beauty personified near the store's register.

"Yeah, whatever Popsicle… so is that a yeah or not Lucy?"

Truthfully, Lucy would have loved something to eat and a drink. Last week's game had lasted four hours and she was both starving and parched by the end of it, having been too embarrassed to admit that she didn't want to use what little money she had on junk food. The money she had put aside was strictly meant for Loke's gift, whenever she found something suitable of course. She should have asked for some water at least like any sensible person would have done, but it had slipped her mind entirely.

Gray had implied that last week's game had ended early so that meant today's game could be even longer. Lucy mentally cursed herself. She was supposed to be good at thinking things through and planning ahead: when did that stop happening?

None the less, it didn't feel right to leech off Natsu, even if he was kindly offering. She had no money because of her own decision to be fully independent. What good was that if she needed other people to provide for her?

"I… couldn't. I'll be alright." She eventually answered.

Natsu looked back at her, his intense stare returning that made Lucy's insides turn into a raw bundle of nerves. As if he had read her mind, he first looked at her, then at her character sheet and then her belongings, searching for something. He said nothing more to her and got up from his chair.

He didn't get a chance to move away however as the stunningly beautiful woman from behind the counter spoke up, clearly expecting Natsu at some point or another.

"Just a minute, Natsu. I'll be over with the usual assortment." She called out with possibly the sweetest, honey-laced voice Lucy had ever heard in her life.

Lucy wasn't surprised that Natsu had an already prepared tray of snacks, just for him. She wouldn't even be surprised if Natsu had some kind of tab going at this place.

"Thanks, Mira!" he called back, sitting back down in his chair triumphantly. "Can I get an extra coke?" He added with a cheeky smirk.

"As long as you pay for it of course." She replied.

"It's almost four, Erza should be here at any moment." Gray stated, sitting up comfortably, evidently pleased that he was all set to go. "and as expected, Gajeel is always a bit late."

Lucy nodded at him and briefly wondered how the two absent members would feel about her returning to the game this week. So far, Natsu and Gray seemed happy enough about it, the former more so than the latter. If anything, she hoped that Erza would be pleased that she had taken the time to read up on the game so that the redhead wouldn't feel the need to keep trying to explain absolutely everything to her. Lucy wouldn't admit to it, but Natsu was the one who made things easier to understand than Erza did.

Her brief contemplation was broken when the woman Natsu had called 'Mira' turned up to the table with a tray, laden with snacks and settling it beside Natsu with ease. He nodded in appreciation as he began to inspect what was on offer.

"Seriously Mira, you don't need to keep doing this," Gray said, shaking his head at his pink-haired friend with displeasure.

"Natsu's my best customer on Saturdays, it would be bad business not to!" She cheerfully replied in her dulcet tones.

Natsu settled on a bag of spicy sriracha chips, wasting no time in opening it and popping a few into his mouth greedily with a satisfied expression gracing his face.

"Hey Mira?" he quickly asked with a partially full mouth as the woman began to walk away, "Where's Lisanna gone?"

Mira turned back with a twinkle in her eyes and a coy smile appearing across on her perfect complexion. "She had the rest of the night off to spend it with Juvia, Natsu."

Lucy could have sworn she heard Gray catch a breath on hearing this, but she didn't turn to face him. She was too curious on the interaction in front of her. She couldn't help it, it was another bad habit of hers – being a bit too nosy at times.

"Oh, okay then," Natsu replied and turned back to the table and to continue eating.

Mira didn't immediately leave, however. "Aww Natsu, do you miss her already?" She cooed.

Natsu paused for a moment, slightly raising his eyebrow at the question before looking back at Mira incredulously.

"Yeah." He stated and Lucy could have sworn Mira ever so slightly recoil at Natsu's blunt response. "Lisanna always brings over the best snacks." He deadpanned and turned back to the table once again, finally leaving Mira with a look of disappointment.

Lucy tried telling herself it was none of her business but now she outright wanted to know what the deal between Natsu and Lisanna was. If she knew them all better, she would have asked, but for now, she could only make assumptions that either it was a poor attempt by Mira to tease Natsu or that one of them maybe had a crush on the other. Looking at Natsu, he didn't seem like the type to have a crush on anything but food but then again, what did she know? The man surprised her enough times already.

Hearing the small brass bell chime near the door, Lucy peered over at the clock on the wall. It was 4pm exactly. That could only mean Erza had arrived. A few seconds later, she heard the redhead greet Mira before she aggressively marched over to their table.

"Greetings all. Hello again Lucy, nice of you to return to us again." She said, taking her seat.

"Y-yeah." Lucy stammered. What could she say? The woman was intimidating. "Good to be back."

Lucy decided to check over her sheet one more time as Erza took out her equipment and unceremoniously placed her miniature on the table.

The sound of metal sliding against wood caused Lucy to peer up though as she spotted Natsu's hand, holding one of the soda cans that he had requested minutes before. He was pushing it right in front of her without a word or without eye contact.

She wanted to be annoyed that he ignored her refusal earlier but honestly, she was kind of grateful that he had considered her at all. She looked up at him but he had already returned to the task of placing the miniatures into positions that they were left in from their last game session.

Lucy relented, accepting the soda for now. It had been a while since she had anything but tea and plain water anyway.

* * *

Lucy couldn't help the little gasp of relief that escaped her throat when she rolled a 16. Having traversed the mines for the last hour, the party had found that the kobolds they had defeated had left a whole plethora of traps. Gray looked inexplicably proud each time they came across one, reveling in the group's annoyance at having to deal with them.

Lucy's latest roll had saved her from a pitfall trap, allowing her character to safely jump over the dangerous hole safely. Unfortunately, the same could not be said for Gajeel's character as Gray began to describe how Metalicana had fallen, smacking his ribs into hard rock and losing half of his hitpoints.

"Titania goes into her backpack to retrieve the rope from her belongings and throws it over the side whilst holding the other end." Erza stoically declared.

"I'll help Erz- Titania hold the rope." Lucy chimed in.

"Tch, I can probably climb out on my own just fine." Gajeel snorted.

"Do you try to climb out?" Gray asked him for confirmation.

Gajeel paused for a second, thinking about it. "Yeah, I do."

"Well you know what to do, roll a dice," Gray responded.

Gajeel roughly grabbed one of his dice, rolling it and grimacing when he saw the result.

It was a '1'.

Lucy had read about what happens when you roll a 1 and it was usually never anything good. A critical failure it was called. Even if you added whatever stats you had to it, it wouldn't matter. Rolling a 1 meant it was an automatic failure with a consequence attached.

Of course, it was Natsu's turn to laugh, and laugh he did, _very_ _loudly_.

"Don't get cocky Salamander, or I'm gonna have to put you in your place." Gajeel snarled at him.

"Hmph. As if you could." Natsu snubbed in return.

A dice roll was heard from behind Gray's screen and Gajeel looked far from comfortable about the fate of his character. A foreboding silence fell over the group as even Erza with her unwavering, impassive expressions other than the small flickers of excitement when the group was doing well, looked unsure of what to expect.

"Okay, Gajeel." Gray finally spoke with a serious edge to his voice.

Lucy's fingers absently and nervously tapped along the table as she awaited the outcome, already preparing to get her single healing spell ready.

"Metalicana tries to get a grip on the rough edges of the rocks and manages to make it halfway up before his grip slips." Gray gulped nervously followed by a deep breath. Lucy couldn't be sure but it was if he expected Gajeel to react badly to whatever he was going to say next.

"Metalicana. He…" Gray began.

"Out with it already." Gajeel barked, crossing his arms across his chest angrily.

"He lands on his back… where his lute is attached. It breaks his fall but the lute…" Gray couldn't even finish the sentence, instead, looked over at Gajeel and was waiting for the inevitable wrath.

"My lut- Metalicana's lute. His pride and joy? Are you fucking kidding me?!"

Gajeel's fist slammed hard onto the table, causing the miniatures and dice to shake and topple over.

"You also take eight points of damage." Gray sheepishly tacked on.

Gajeel's steely, dark eyes changed from irritation to anger. He looked as if he were about to get up and leave to never return. If Lucy thought that Natsu was the type to hate rolling badly, clearly Gajeel was too. She felt that she had to do something to help pacify the situation.

"Luna climbs down the rope and goes to cast cure wounds on Metalicana." She announced loudly (although certainly didn't intend to) to the table.

Everyone was silent for what felt like minutes and Lucy wasn't sure if she began to regret her decision. Was it the wrong thing to do in this instance?

Gajeel let out a grumble that was on par with growling if you could call it that. He recoiled his hand and turned away foolishly, now looking at the floor.

"Thanks for that." He finally uttered out.

"Yeah… no problem." Lucy replied awkwardly.

"I don't think you should waste your heals on him, Lucy." Natsu decided to add, causing Gajeel to twist back to the table with an irritated scowl.

"You just wanna hog all the heals for yourself you selfish prick!" He yelled out.

"Enough!" Erza cried out. "We are here to play a co-operative game, not to behave like bickering children!"

The table quickly stilled and Erza calmly turned to Gray. "As you were."

Eventually, Metalicana and Luna were assisted out of the pitfall trap by Salamander and Titania with little issues. Gajeel appeared to be grumpy throughout to which Lucy could only assume that he _really_ liked his character's lute – the true weapon of a bard. Natsu hadn't said much else as he made his way through his snacks in quick succession. Lucy realized that without Erza in the party, there would be little to no chance that everyone would be able to get along for long enough to play the game. At least, that was what she assumed anyway.

Soon enough, they were met with more traps thanks to Erza's keen eye detecting them, but luckily they had managed to avoid them all. It wasn't long before Gray began describing an entirely new obstacle before them.

"You all arrive in front of a large, ancient door made entirely out of ice. On closer inspection, there are strange, engraved runes on its surface. What do you do?"

"Melt it with my fire spells!"

Lucy probably should have foreseen that response coming after several combined hours of play.

"Which spells do you use?" Gray asked, his expression passive.

"Uh, let's see. Better go with fire bolts to save my spell slots." Natsu replied.

Grayed shrugged. "Okay, your fire bolts have no effect on the door."

"What?! No way! Fire melts ice, it should totally work!"

"I'm the dungeon master, flame head, so no, they don't work!"

Before a new argument could break out, Erza spoke up. "I wish to inspect the runes."

"See! Erza, has the right idea." Gray pointed out to the pouting fire mage before turning his attention to Erza. "Okay Erza, what kind of check would you like to make?"

"I shall go with a history check."

Erza calmly took her dice and rolled an '8'.

"Unfortunately, you have no idea what these runes are or how to read them," Gray said.

"Luna should attempt to read them," Erza stated, looking directly at Lucy.

Lucy, however, wasn't too sure on that. Her character was no wizard and she knew precisely three languages. Not wanting to let anyone down, she attempted it none the less. "I'll do an… arcana check?"

She reasoned that the door was made of a type of ice that couldn't be melted with fire. That alone was enough to tell her it was magical in its creation and therefore she should check to see if the runes were magical in some way too.

"Roll a D20," Gray responded.

Taking out her mismatched dice, Lucy rolled once more and breathed a sigh of relief when a '14' came up.

Without skipping a beat, Gray began to recite what he had clearly written down in his notes as if he planned for this scenario.

"You realize that not only is the door and the runes magical but that the runes also begin to glow the longer you stare at them. Before long, you hear the sound of a sharp object being scraped across the ice."

Lucy almost jumped in her seat when she heard the horrid screeching of a nail being dragged across something stony in the room they were sitting in. She scrunched her eyes shut and turned her nose up at the sound of it as it throbbed in her ears with her barely holding back the urge to cover her ears entirely with her palms.

The sound abruptly stopped and Lucy looked back to Gray who sat there with a complacent grin.

"Gray, was it really necessary to create your own sound effects again?" Erza asked as she rolled her shoulders as if to shake off the disconcerting noise that had enveloped the room. Even Mira who looked as if she had been tidying the shelves looked irritated.

Lucy also observed how both Natsu and Gajeel had hung their heads over the table, hands over their ears with the look of pain washing over their faces. After a second, Natsu pulled his hands from his head with a look of pure anger engrossing his features.

"What the fuck, you jerk!" He yelled out. "You know I have sensitive hearing!"

"Yeah man, what the actual fuck?" Gajeel spoke up, although looked nowhere near as annoyed as Natsu.

"Sorry guys, didn't expect it to be that bad." Gray half-apologized. "I won't do it again, alright?"

Gajeel grunted. "Better fucking not." he retorted.

"Yeah." Natsu seethed.

Somehow, Lucy felt as if what Gray did wasn't in fact to spite the two. No, it felt as if Gray had suddenly dissipated whatever tension was between the two of them. She had been wondering how any of them got along but they obviously had ways to make it work.

"Anyway…" Gray continued, ignoring the threats of the two men, "Luna, you realize the sound was words being scratched into the surface of the ice door, as if by an invisible hand. You notice that the words are written in Common, so you can read them perfectly. Do you read it?"

Lucy nodded. Nothing bad ever came from reading, right? "Yes, I do."

"Out loud?"

"Yeah."

Gray cleared his throat. "The words read as such – _Glittering points, that downward thrust. Sparkling spears, that never rust._ "

"Oh, it's a riddle!" Lucy blurted out.

"A riddle huh? So we just have to say the right answer or somethin' and the door opens?" Natsu asked.

Lucy began to reply, "Yeah, so we should-"

"-think about it carefully." Erza finished for her.

"A torch!" Natsu shouts out, ignoring what had just been said.

Erza visibly smacked her forehead in frustration.

"How the hell is it a torch, dumbass?" Gajeel asked.

"Fire looks shiny and sparkly to me and it can't rust." He simply stated, crossing his arms in his stubbornness.

Gray sighed exasperatedly, "… From the side of the door, a hatch opens and a small dart shoots out-"

There was yet another hidden dice roll from Gray. "And it hits Luna in the arm. She takes three points of damage."

"Why the hell did it hit Lucy!?" Natsu cried out, wailing his arms in aggravation.

"Her character is called Luna, idiot. I rolled for it and that's what the dice decided." Gray reminded him.

"Let's think through about the puzzle this time." Erza reminded everyone, with a stern glare directed at Natsu.

Natsu ignored her in favor of turning to Lucy, slightly leaning forwards towards her. "Sorry, Lucy, didn't mean for ya to get hurt." Natsu quietly said.

"It's okay." Lucy softly replied. It was. He didn't intend for her character to get hit after all.

Natsu remained quiet after this. He looked somewhat guilty for his actions but Lucy couldn't help but get the feeling he wouldn't have cared so much if anybody else's character had got hit instead of hers. Out of everyone here, he was the most determined to make sure she was enjoying the game. It was both odd and a little endearing.

Focusing back on the riddle, Lucy found that the answer was easy to figure out after analyzing it. Something that came from above with a pointed end that also glittered like a spear. The door itself was the biggest hint if that was anything to go by.

"An icicle," Lucy said, confident in her answer.

Erza opened her mouth to speak as Lucy realized that she hadn't discussed her answer with anyone. Now there could be an immediate repeat of Natsu's mistake. Lucy felt pretty confident about her choice though.

"You hear a rumble and the doors begin to slide open," Gray said with a gleeful smile towards Lucy.

"That was correct?" Gajeel asked, unsure of what had just happened.

"It was," Gray replied.

"Excellent work Lucy. You are most definitely a great addition to our team." Erza said although Lucy was still unable to tell if Erza was acting in character or not.

She felt a warm palm on her shoulder and cocked her head to be met with the proud grin of Natsu. "That was awesome." He said.

"It was nothing." She answered although rather meekly. She really wasn't used to these kinds of compliments. The riddle hadn't been _that_ difficult to solve. Someone could have probably looked up the answer on their phone but she suspected there was probably some kind of faux pas.

The party eventually continued through the door, further into what was left of the mines and thankfully, Gray hadn't placed any more traps for them to run across. Instead, they found what they had originally come here for - the treasure.

Gray went on to describe it – an oddly shaped flute made of bone sitting on an icy pedestal. Erza was able to confirm there were no traps present surrounding it thanks to another high roll and that left the group to decide what to with their so-called treasure.

Gajeel was the first to speak up. "I want it. I need a new instrument."

Erza was quick to disregard his drank declaration. "Given all the mistakes we have made today, I don't think that's wise. It could be cursed." Erza stated. "I will hang onto it until we get it properly identified."

"Tch. Fine."

Lucy was honestly surprised Gajeel didn't put up more of a fight. Whereas Natsu and Gray looked mortified whenever Erza spoke up to interrupt their quarrels, Gajeel looked disinterested when Erza chose to put a stop to his own antics.

"So what do you all do next?" Gray asked.

"Lame, there wasn't even a boss for us to fight," Natsu said with a bored edge to his voice. With everyone each having lost some hitpoints and many of the limited spell slots used up, Lucy couldn't believe he was hoping to fight something that would be even stronger than what they had already been facing. Her character was still sitting at level one on top of all that!

"The lack of an opponent is exactly why I am suspicious about the flute." Erza reiterated. "and we should all leave to recuperate at the nearest inn."

If Gray had something planned, his face revealed nothing. He was clearly very good at hiding his true motivations.

Nobody dared disagree with Erza. To save time, Gray described how the group left the mines the same way that they came from and how they easily avoided all the traps as they already knew their locations. The nearest inn was in a small village with a tavern. Lucy could only guess that Natsu, out of frustration that Gray hadn't arranged a boss for them to fight in the caves, was the main reason why he had his character go start a brawl in said tavern.

"Don't bother wasting your healing spells on him this time," Erza instructed to her.

It was close to ten in the evening by the time Lucy had started yawning. Once again, the time had slipped by rapidly. At least she was neither thirsty nor hungry thanks to Natsu's determination to see she had something to drink other than just water and the occasional offering of one of the milder snacks in his possession.

Gray announced the end of the session with all their characters getting rooms for the night at the inn. It cost Lucy another gold but she was okay with that. Soon, she would be rewarded for completing the quest.

"Also, Lucy. Your character has also gained a level." He said as he began to pack away his things.

This excited her immensely, "Really!? What does that mean for me?"

"You gain more health and some spells most likely. Just read it over in the manual." He said, the tiredness now evident in his voice. She couldn't blame him. Six hours was a long time to be playing a game and she had no idea if that was the standard amount of time to spend playing.

As everyone packed up, Lucy once again neatly folding her sheet away and handing her borrowed dice back to Gray, she felt a small nudge from Natsu to her side.

"If you want help leveling up or anything, lemme know, okay?" Natsu quietly stated to her.

"Yeah... Thanks, Natsu." In all honesty though, she wanted to do this for herself.

Just as Lucy was about to make her goodbyes after thanking Gray for hosting a great game, she was approached by Erza, who, like Natsu, had no issues coming rather close to her, enveloping her personal space. "Lucy."

"Y-yes?"

"It's quite late and I didn't spot a car belonging to you outside. Will you require any assistance in getting home safely?" How did Erza know she didn't have a car?

"Oh uh, I'll be fine. It's not that far for me to walk."

"Nonsense, I will drive you. Where do you live?"

Lucy dared not argue with the fiery redhead. "O-on Strawberry Street." She uttered, careful not to alert everyone to her address.

"Hey, that's not that far from me!" Natsu loudly said. Of course, somehow he heard her hushed voice.

"Well Natsu, you know the offer is always there if you need a lift too," Erza responded.

Natsu almost recoiled in disgust. "Nope. No way."

"Suit yourself. Come on Lucy. Mira is waiting to close up."

Lucy barely had the chance to say goodbye to everyone before Erza had grabbed her hand and was almost dragging her to the door.

The cooling wind of a late summer night was the first thing to make Lucy feel a lot more alert to her surroundings. Erza released her vice-like grip on Lucy's hand and motioned for her to follow her to an old, red car. The make and model were a mystery of course, Lucy had never been that interested in cars. Erza opened the trunk and tossed in her bag before slamming down the lid roughly, amazing Lucy with her hidden strength.

Without a word, she pointed to the passenger's side of the car and Lucy skittishly moved to it, opening the car door much more gently than Erza had and seating herself comfortably on the worn leather. An air freshener hung from the front mirror causing the sweet scent of strawberries to waft throughout the automobile.

In no time at all, Erza was seated, with a seat-belt on, starting up the vehicle and leaving the parking lot in time for Lucy to spot Natsu and Gray leaving the store, the former giving a small wave as they passed them by.

"So Lucy…" Erza said, causing Lucy to jump slightly and pay attention to the woman beside her. "How are you liking D&D so far?"

Lucy paused to think about her answer. After two sessions, she could admit she was certainly enjoying herself and the prospect of leveling up certainly helped, although how these people were all friends given their dynamic with each other was a complete mystery.

"I'm having fun. I'm glad I leveled up. I think I get some of those star abilities that Natsu mentioned last week now."

"That's good to hear. I was worried we might have to replace you and it's not good to have rotating players in the group."

Lucy froze up. Replace her? Were they considering that already? She thought she had done well. Was she not trying hard enough?

"Replace me?" She finally asked, the concern evident in her voice.

Erza caught onto it quickly. "No, not replace you like that. As in, if you didn't want to play anymore. No one really asked before but playing with a group is somewhat of a commitment."

"I see… So you want to know if I will keep coming back?"

"Yes. I know we can all be a bit… much at times. I assure you that the bickering is perfectly normal. Everybody really is friends with each other. We trust each other."

Daring to suggest such a thing, Lucy replied, "It feels like you keep them in line, Erza."

"Ha, that might be true. I do tend to have that effect on people," Erza smiled at the statement as she cautiously checked her side-view mirrors as she drove them down the quieter streets of Magnolia, away from the city. As the car became ever closer to Lucy's apartment, Lucy couldn't help but ask and hope that Erza might be able to explain something for her.

"… Natsu seems really keen for me to play." Lucy eventually said, breaking the comfortable silence.

"Yes, I noticed that too. He's always been one keen to make new friends, and fairly easily too," Erza commented.

"Oh, that explains that then." Lucy murmured, not realizing that she actually sounded disappointed. In fact, that notion went entirely amiss by her.

Erza chuckled. "I've never seen him share his food though. That was… interesting."

"Never?"

"No he- Is this your apartment?" Erza asked, pointing to the familiar building that Lucy recognized.

A block of red brick, interlaced with old white plaster and wooden beams. It was strange looking- a combination of old and new designs. Most buildings had a similar theme on this street; perhaps that was why it was called Strawberry Street, red and white colors. Even some of the flat rooftops had potted gardens to add the green tops to the mix.

"Yeah, it is. Thank you, Erza."

Erza pulled up to an empty spot on the side of the road, meters from the front door. "Not a problem Lucy. Now, I shall require your number should there be a need to get in contact."

Lucy complied with Erza, as that certainly sounded like an order if she ever heard one. Come to think of it, she now knew that Natsu and Gajeel worked together, Gray apparently sold ice cream for a living but Erza's profession was still unknown. It wouldn't have surprised her one bit if she was some kind of drill sergeant.

Whipping out her phone, the small pink heart charm dangling from its case, smacking gently against the edges, Lucy read out her number to Erza as the woman rapidly typed in each number on her own phone. In a surprise move, Erza's hand rustled into the pocket of her own skirt and then she roughly handed a card to Lucy, practically slamming it into her face. It merely said the words 'Erza Scarlet' with a string of numbers attached. "In case you need to contact me," Erza said.

Lucy gingerly took the card and reached for the car door handle, preparing to exit the vehicle.

"I shall see you next week then?" Erza asked although it was more of a confirmation than anything else.

"Y-yeah," Lucy said, as she got out of the car.

"I shall see you then. Goodbye Lucy."

"Goodbye, Erza and thanks again." For the first time that night, Lucy received a friendly smile from Erza, one that left her feeling much less on edge around her. With that, Erza drove away leaving Lucy standing not far from her apartment's main entrance.

Realization hit Lucy square in the face a minute later as she fumbled in her bag for her keys, almost dropping them in the process. It was Loke's birthday next Saturday. She wouldn't be able to make it after all and the feeling left Lucy feeling very conflicted.

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was difficult to write and I'm hoping my chapters aren't too long. I have each chapter planned out ahead in a separate document and I stick to that when writing, which leads to some chapters being longer than I originally anticipated. I also wanted to get this chapter out before I get stuck into the FT game which should be released in less than an hour on PCs! So I spent a couple of hours each day writing to get this chapter finished.
> 
> I wanted to convey Lucy's lack of self-confidence (reasons to be revealed later in the story of course) combined with her determination to be independent. I also wanted to show that the group isn't completely harmonious too which I'm hoping came across alright – it's the part I struggled with most. Also, not every chapter will include a D&D session, just in case you were curious.
> 
> I don't have any formal writing experience and don't intend on doing any writing on a professional level so all of this is for fun and to get some creativity out.
> 
> Like last time, not sure when the next chapter will be up, but with Loke's birthday soon coming up, I think you can expect some involvement there.


	4. Gifts for the Nemean Lion

**Wednesday, August 12th**

With a small skip in her step, Lucy was in a joyous mood on a breezy Wednesday afternoon as she made her way down the sidewalk with a good friend, Cana Alberona, at her side.

In Lucy's shoulder bag were the gifts meant for Loke, one of the first of friends she had made when she first started attending college in Magnolia around two years ago. They weren't the best gifts, she knew that, but they were definitely appropriate for the outgoing man.

"I think he'll like them, Cana. I just have to pick up some wrapping paper and some tape and then I'm all set," Lucy stated, her arms and hips moving with confidence as Cana eyed up places that they could stop at for a bite to eat.

"Wanna stop here for lunch?" Cana asked, ignoring Lucy's own obvious attempts at self-reassurance.

The busty brunette was pointing to the 'HalfCocor Hotel Bar'. Expectantly, the woman wanted a place that served alcoholic drinks. This shouldn't have even surprised Lucy, but it did considering that Cana was meant to be returning to work in a couple of hours, having taken an extended lunch break that day.

Cana chucked her a knowing smile, "They have some decent food too."

They entered, seating themselves at a smaller table near the window, Lucy settling her bag down to one side and feeling the relief from being on her feet all morning. She couldn't resist stretching her arms and wiggling her toes in her sandals as she was reminded of the early morning jog she had engaged herself in earlier before embracing the day ahead.

Cana perused the laminated menu, skimming over the limited food choices and going straight to the beverages.

Lucy, despite succeeding in her quest to find a gift, was left still feeling unsettled. It had to do with Loke's upcoming party. She had been to many of his parties before of course, but she had never been in the position where, in all honestly, she wanted to be doing something else instead. It left her feeling like a terrible friend for even thinking that.

"So what do ya want? My treat," Cana asked, lightly sliding the menu towards Lucy.

Lucy browsed it quickly, settling on a grilled sandwich with a side salad.

"… And to drink?" Cana then inquired with _t_ _hat_ look that could only mean trouble. The kind of trouble where Cana can get anyone to start spilling their secrets if plied with sufficient amounts of booze.

Lucy wasn't about to indulge Cana in that kind of conversation over lunch. "Just water Cana. I'm parched."

The brunette hummed, before breaking into a tease, "Come on, what better time to let go just a little?"

"We can do that at Loke's place on Saturday…" Lucy muttered back.

"You're definitely going then?"

Of course she was. There was no way Lucy could abandon a friend on their birthday because she wanted to play a game with a group of 'maybe' friends instead. Even if she was looking forward to trying out her new star-based abilities on her druid.  
If she had read the website that listed them all correctly, she would have two new things to play with. One was called 'Star Map' which would serve her as a 'spellcasting focus', allowing her to have two new spells that she currently didn't have to her arsenal. She could decide on what the object that the star map would take the form of and she felt drawn to making it look like an ornate, golden key. It felt as if that would be a tribute to her late mother in some way.

However, Lucy felt herself breath out a sigh of utter defeat.

She was really hoping that she wouldn't be replaced for skipping one week of play. The group would surely understand?

"Earthland to Lucy?" Cana called out, waving her palm in front of Lucy's face.

Lucy broke from her thoughts to pay attention to the woman in front of her, "… Sorry. Was in a world of my own there."

"Yeah, no kidding? Care to share?"

"It's gonna sound bad."

Cana cocked her eyebrow as her lips pulled into a coy smirk. "Well, now you have to tell me."

Lucy felt herself hesitating, but after two games of D&D, she was feeling keen to finally talk about it. "You won't judge?"

"Since when have I ever judged you for doing anything 'bad'?" Cana teased.

"It's not _'bad'_. It's just that I have something I do on Saturdays now and it conflicts with Loke's party. I'm still going to go but I can't help but feel I'm losing out, you know?"

"What's the 'something'?"

"… It's called Dungeons and Dragons."

Needless to say, Lucy spent the next hour explaining what D&D was to her clueless friend. She didn't even realize how enthusiastic she was sounding to the brunette as she explained her adventure through the mines that her party had experienced together. Cana asked questions, Lucy answered to the best she could with her limited knowledge in between the bites of her sandwich. By the end of her explanations, Cana had drunk three screwdriver cocktails and was now casually sipping on a half-pint of beer.

"I didn't peg you for that much of nerd, Lucy. I know you read a lot and all but wow."

"I don't really label myself as anything." Lucy answered. She had often felt that way about a lot of aspects of her life. She had never been as smart as Levy, she was certainly not nerdy or geeky enough to be considered a part of that crowd either and even though she kept herself in shape, she was no gym rat; just an aspiring writer trying to make her own way in the world.

"Anyway, let's see what you brought for Loke again." Cana suddenly asked, losing interest in the former topic of conversation.

Lucy rummaged through her bag, bringing out three separate items. The first was a small silver pin; something that you could wear on a suit without it being too inappropriate. Loke was normally wearing suits, no matter the occasion. Lucy guessed that he always wanted to look his best. The pin itself was of a small, regal looking Lion, letting out a roar. This was also to go with the second gift, a tie, patterned with the zodiac symbol for Leo the Lion.

Loke was a surprising character like that. For all his suave and charm and dashing good looks, not many would have thought him to be someone that believed in astrology. Lucy didn't know if he had chosen to live up to the traits of someone born under the star sign of Leo or if he was the perfect embodiment of it but Loke was in every sense of the word, a perfect example of it.

Astrology and astronomy were something the two of them had in common. Lucy wasn't as into astrology as he was for her own reasons but she certainly enjoyed reading her own horoscope from time to time. As for astronomy, that was what brought them together as friends in the first place.

Still, Lucy wasn't entirely sure these two gifts alone were enough so her third and final gift was a simple box of chocolates, freshly made in Margaret Town.

"You really went all out for him didn't you?" Cana questioned as she pawed at the gifts, daintily inspecting them and giving her nod of approval.

Lucy's face contorted as she huffed, her expression the epitome of frustration, "I really was lost on what to get him, you have no idea! What do you get someone who has everything already?"

"He's not that rich, girl."

"He has a pool."

"I know and it's pretty sweet."

"That's true."

"Besides, Lucy…" Cana began, her fingertips circling the rim of her beer bottle as Lucy could only assume where this conversation was now going judging from the playful expression on the girl's face. "Loke would've been just as happy if you had turned up wearing nothing but a ribbon for him to unwrap."

Lucy's face took mere seconds to turn bright red. "Cana!"

"What? You know it's true."

Yanking her gaze awkwardly away from Cana's, "I… I'm not interested in him that way."

"You sure about that?"

"He's a good friend but he's also a bit of a player. I'm not looking for that in a guy."

Now pointing the upward end of the bottle towards Lucy, Cana's very slight tipsiness became evident: "So you are looking for someone then?"

"N-no."

Cana snorted, "Liar."

"… If I meet the right person maybe."

"You could always 'enjoy' some fun times with Loke as just something casual."

"Cana. Stop. Please?"

Cana shrugged, chugging the remainder of her bottle and saying no more. Lucy knew that Cana could push things a bit far sometimes and thus becoming overbearing, but Cana honored other people's requests… mostly.

"So this group you're worrying about…" Cana began, returning to their previous conversation.

"Yeah?"

"Have you told them yet that you can't make it this Saturday?"

Lucy grimaced the thought. She had two options: go to the store and leave a message at the counter for group or send a message to Erza. The first option felt cowardly to do. The second option worried her.

Erza's words from a few nights ago still echoed in her mind – that talk of commitment, replacing and all that. The thought of sending Erza a message to inform her that she wouldn't be able to make it to their game – even if she emphasized it would be 'just this one time', would cause them to assume she didn't want to play. After all, just how many times had people used those exact words on her? The only difference was that it really was just this one time.

"No… I know I should. I'm just worried about it," Lucy finally answered.

"Want me to do it for you?" Cana asked.

"No, that's alright," Lucy was quick to answer. "I just need to think about what to say."

A part of Lucy really doubts that she would be replaced without any prior warning. It's silly to think about. Surely the others have their own commitments that drag them away from the game once in a while?

"You're overthinking it," Cana knew her well.

"That's probably true."

Lucy wished she had a third option available to her; that she could tell Natsu that she wouldn't be able to make it. She suspected he would understand and not start looking for her replacement... It was too bad she didn't have any way of getting in contact with him yet.

* * *

**Saturday, August 15th**

Natsu, as per usual, had arrived at the tabletop store early along with Gray who always showed up at least one hour early to prepare the game. Even Natsu could admit that despite all Gray's dumb habits and how that idiot thinks he's the best thing around here since sliced cheese, the man was dedicated to making sure everyone had a good game. He wasn't sure if Gray missed being a player or not. He'd asked him about it once but Gray had insisted that he liked playing both aspects of the game.

Natsu plopped himself down in his usual chair, digging around into his pant's pockets for his battered character sheet and dice set, crudely dropping both onto the table. Gray said nothing and that was fine, he didn't bother Gray when he was doing dungeon master preparations. Any other time and he could find a reason to be annoyed at Gray. Their friendship was judged to be weird by other people's standards but Natsu didn't really care if they thought that. Sure, he and Gray fought a lot – had done ever since they were kids, but their mutually tragic circumstances surrounding both of their separate upbringings gave them solidarity with one another.

Natsu eyed the plethora of snacks that were available to him at the counter. It was glaringly obvious that Mira stocked up before he turned up on Saturdays. They were more pricey here than buying them elsewhere but he wanted to support the place that he'd come to think of as a second home. However, what surprised him today was how his first thought at looking at the offerings was the first, but a random question that sprung into his mind: _'What would Lucy like?'._

Natsu thought back to the last two sessions that she had played with them and he didn't want to say he felt sorry for her because that didn't really explain how he felt, but watching her sit there for hours and him being able to quietly hear her stomach growling made him feel as if he just had to do something about it.

He'd been the one that had invited her to play and the fact that she was obviously enjoying herself made his insides feel funny, but why she wouldn't do anything about her obvious hunger or even go and get a drink was weird.

So last week, when he saw that she was planning to play for longer without any kind of food, well, he had to make sure that didn't happen. He couldn't stand it when his own stomach rumbled, let alone listening to hers. He figured maybe Lucy was on a diet or something; she could at least explain that to Mira and then she _might_ be allowed to bring in her own food. It's hard to say with Mira actually; she might be better off asking Lisanna instead.

Natsu checked the time: twenty minutes at least until it was time for the game to start. Gajeel would turn up late as always and idle chitchat would delay things some more. But Lucy wasn't here early like she had been the week before.

It honestly left him feeling a little disappointed as he'd figured he would show her some of the other parts of the store that the regulars here often frequented. It wasn't obvious but the door to the left of the store's counter didn't lead to a storeroom. It was actually an iron spiral staircase that went down into the basement which had been turned into a sort of games room. Natsu had liked to spend time hanging out in with whatever friends were around. Then he finished school, got a job and all that and suddenly there was a lot less time for fun.

There was also the 'pick your own' dice selection near the packaged, unpainted miniatures too: in all sorts of colors. Lucy was still using Gray's spare dice and Natsu figured he could help Lucy pick out her own set. Okay, so maybe she didn't need help deciding on what color dice she liked but he wanted to be there to see what dice she did go for. It wasn't like they weren't pricey or anything unless you wanted something custom made like Metalhead's dice.

Resigning to the fact that Lucy wasn't showing up early this time, Natsu decided to shake off his restlessness and go browse the comics and manga section.

"Oi, Pyro. What's with you?" Gray called out.

Natsu had barely made it far from the table when the dungeon master had noticed him looking on edge.

"Nothin'," Natsu answered solemnly, waving the guy off and continued making his way to the section of the store that might hold his attention for a while.

"… Fine, but I've got another question for you." Gray said, his voice no louder than it previously was, knowing that Natsu could still hear him perfectly fine from the corner that he had skulked off too. "Do you have any contact details for Lucy? I need to add her to our group chat."

It never occurred to Natsu to get any of that info from Lucy. He'd figured she would show up to play and he didn't think there would be a time where she wouldn't. Shooting a quick glance at the entrance, maybe he was wrong. Besides, they had barely used the group chat so far – only really for planning things or letting each other know if they couldn't make it for a game. Even his brother hadn't bothered using it when he decided to drop out.

"Nah. I don't. Probably should ask, right?" Natsu huffed, although mostly at his own misjudgment at not having already done so.

"I'll ask when she comes in. I need to have a private chat with her anyway," Gray coolly replied.

Natsu's wavering attention immediately switched over to his friend. Gray must have realized the impending question of ' _why?'_ as he quickly followed up his sentence before Natsu could ask.

"Need to go over some backstory stuff with her so I can set up a proper story for her character."

Natsu relaxed, the tension leaving his shoulders. He trusted Gray but he didn't want him to scare Lucy off from playing. There had been an incident a couple of years ago when Gray first tried his hand at being a dungeon master and they had invited a girl named Jenny to give it a go. She struggled with the rules of the game and Gray had attempted to talk to her outside of the game in private about it. The result was that the idiot started inadvertently stripping and the unfortunate timing of Juvia turning up and coming to the wrong conclusion.

Juvia was someone Natsu had never really understood when it came to _'_ _liking'_ Gray but yeah, the _incident_ had left Jenny running for the hills and a guy called Hibiki later turning up, mid-game, looking pissed as hell.

Remembering back to the week before, Natsu recalled seeing that Lucy had all those extra pages of backstory she had written for her character. He didn't read them or even tried to: it was always better to discover another character's story through playing the game itself, but, he did catch something about her character being nobility so maybe that's what Gray wanted to discuss.

He continued to browse the comics, not finding anything that captured his interest that week. Before long, the shop's bell rang and Natsu didn't waste a second to check to see who it was.

Familiar red hair and the subsequent drop in his stomach informed him that Erza had arrived.

That could only mean it was now the exact time that they were supposed to start playing.

That also meant that Lucy was either late or not coming. He really hoped she hadn't suddenly quit or that Erza hadn't frightened her away last week. It was also mean they would need a replacement… again.

Natsu begrudgingly went to his place at the table, barely greeting Erza with more than a grunt. That was a mistake. He suddenly felt Erza's slender but strong fingers grip around his wrist as he passed her, letting out a whimper as he saw Erza's eyes bore into him.

"Aren't you going to say hello, Natsu?" She calmly asked.

"Right. Yep. Hi Erza." He hurriedly answered, causing Erza to release her vice-like grip.

He took his place at the table with a grumble, slouching a bit more than usual. Erza shrugged her shoulders questioningly at Gray as she watched Natsu's unusual behaviour before trying to get the dungeon master's attention, clearly wanting to know what on Earthland was up with the usually loud man.

Gray silently shrugged back, but cast a glance over at the empty seat beside Natsu, a subtle suggestion that was not unnoticed by Erza. In fact, it reminded her completely about the message she had received earlier.

"I have a message from Lucy," she announced.

Natsu sat up, his eyes now intently watching Erza, waiting. Gray too, looked up to hear what she had to say.

"She had a social engagement to attend to this evening and won't be able to make it. Seeing as her character was last in the tavern, I propose we leave it there for the time being."

Erza making _'suggestions'_ to the dungeon master about what to do in the game was not unheard of but Natsu wondered how in the hell it didn't irk Gray at all. Then again, looking at Gray told him that he had no interest in turning down the idea from the redhead. It wasn't like it was a bad idea.

Natsu, feeling uncomfortable at the thought, was left wondering if this was Lucy's way of leaving or-

"Will she-" He began to ask only for Erza to catch on quickly, holding an open palm to his face to silence him.

"She informed me that she intends on returning next week."

Natsu once again relaxed, content that at least all of his efforts in getting Lucy involved in playing hadn't all been for nothing. Sure, she had only played for two games, but it already felt like it was not gonna be the same without her there. Then again, it felt a little bit like that when Zeref decided to not play anymore. He hadn't even heard from his brother since but it's not like they were close like that or anything.

"Erza, did you have Lucy's contact info? I need to add her to group chat." Gray asked her, parroting his previous words to Natsu.

"… I do but let me ask her if she will be fine with that first," Erza replied, taking out her phone and tapping out a message.

The loud thuds from outside and the ring of the bell alerted everyone to the fact that Gajeel had arrived, his leather biker gear crinkling as he made his way over to them. Natsu caught his eye when he found the imposing man staring at him with a smug grin on his face. He doubted it was work-related but wouldn't put it past him. He swore that guy had a strange fascination with the iron that they worked with at his workplace.

"Oi, Salamander."

Natsu cocked his head. It wasn't unusual at all for lug nuts to call him by his character's name. "What?"

"It's looking like it's gonna piss down sooner or later. You might wanna consider that lift from Erza tonight," he stated, crossing his arms over his chest as if he had won some kind of bet.

"Nah, it's only rain," Natsu answered, even if it meant he'd look like a drowned puppy by the end of his walk home.

The thought of going anywhere near Erza's car was nauseating, let alone sitting in it when she actually drove the thing. The woman would generally drive carefully for the most part, until her road rage kicked in and speed limits were quickly ignored. The one time he had given in to Erza's request to drive him somewhere was the only and will remain the _only_ time he would ever step into that death trap again.

It wasn't just her either, it was any vehicle. Motion sickness was the worst. Gajeel was the same for a while and then he suddenly seemed to get over it when he bought that damn motorcycle of his. Natsu hadn't had any luck with getting the man to spill his secret of how he got over it either.

"So, we ready to play?" Gray asked as Gajeel took his place, tossing his helmet to the side.

"Yeah, I guess," was Natsu's minimal response.

The game was only a few minutes in when Natsu felt Lucy's vacant chair being pulled out. Sitting up, he observed Lisanna taking the seat with his usual tray of snacks in hand – some of his favorites featured and she placed them down where Lucy's dice and character sheet would normally be. He didn't blame Lisanna in any shape or form for that decision but he didn't like the placement of the tray at all. He promptly picked it up and put it to the other side of him, not bothering to grab anything from it immediately.

"Not hungry today, Natsu?" Lisanna asked him curiously and earning him several odd glances from everyone.

Natsu shrugged somewhat and then grabbed the nearest bag of chips or candy or whatever was closest to him, settling the peculiar stares he was getting from the other players at the table.

"Thanks, Lisanna, appreciate it," Natsu said, ripping into whatever bag he had grabbed and throwing pieces of whatever snack, (turns out it was chili nuts) into his mouth.

Lisanna stuck around for a while, watching everyone begin their game where they carried off from their last session before eventually resigning herself to return to work.

They had soon all settled into the game with ease once more but for whatever reason that evening, Natsu found that getting himself to roleplay was proving to be a lot more effort than usual that night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for all the reviews, favourites and follows so far: it's nice to see people are keen to see where this story will go!  
> I'm not entirely sure of its full length yet but the overall plot/plots (one for the real world, one for D&D) is done out with around twenty chapters so far planned out.
> 
> I also wanted to focus a little on Natsu's perspective in this chapter and drop some hints of his backstory in this AU. I can find him a little difficult to write for at times as it's not always easy to work out what is going on in that head of his when referring back to the manga/anime.
> 
> Some D&D terms:  
> Nemean Lion: In D&D terms, this is a challenging encounter: a massive lion that seeks to be left alone.  
> Spellcasting Focus: Used to channel the spells of the user and sometimes negates the material cost of said spells.


	5. Not a Party Girl

**Saturday, August 15th, 7PM**

Normally, Lucy loved picking out what to wear to a special event. She had a few different outfits to choose from and a part of her wished she would have a bit more of an expendable income so she could treat herself to new clothes more often than not.

However, staring at the choices in her wardrobe, Lucy just wasn't feeling it today. It was a good thing that Cana would be over shortly as Lucy felt herself getting more and more distracted as she imagined what she was missing out on, back at the Strauss Gaming Store. Her eyes were continuously drawn to her character sheet sitting on her desk that sat opposite her bed, now with more notes attached to what she could do with her new abilities.

It wouldn't be so bad she told herself. Erza had been understanding in the message she had eventually sent and responded that she hoped to see her again next week. Upon receiving the message, immediate relief embraced Lucy as she simultaneously scolded herself for assuming the worst about her new group of friends: that they would just boot her for missing one game.

The relief, however, vanished as Erza followed up with a polite message informing Lucy that she should give them all notice sooner next time about any future absences she might take as Gray would need the extra time to adjust his notes for the upcoming session.

Guilt replaced relief and Lucy gave herself the stark reminder that Erza was kind but no less stern and forthcoming about her expectations. Lucy felt that Erza was the sort of woman that she could ever be completely open with (unlike Levy), but someone that Lucy could see herself warming up to in time.

By contrast, Cana, the friend that Lucy was expecting to turn up at any moment, was an antonym of Erza. She was someone you _really_ didn't want to open up to completely – Cana would take it all and run with it, pushing you to your limits. Discretion and Cana didn't mix at all.

Lucy wondered if her separate groups of friends would ever intersect and how that might play out. She almost laughed at the thought of it: Cana being amused by Gray's stripping habit, Levy looking so tiny compared to Gajeel and Loke looking utterly bewildered by Natsu's curt words. Then Erza would be there to bring order to all the commotion that would come of it.

The thought almost made her feel a little sad – there was no way these groups of people would ever be in each other's company – they were just too different.

Shaking off the encroaching, despondent feeling, Lucy went back to choosing her outfit. Feeling the fabric of each little dress she owned with her hands and ultimately she felt drawn to a little red number that she had yet to wear, having picked up on a whim during a sale a few months ago.

She had barely managed to pull the thing on and zip it up before the buzzer was furiously going off near her front door, no doubt from Cana who was impatient to get inside or to get going. Lucy almost stumbled as she clumsily made her way to her there; a stark reminder that it had been a while since she had worn a short, form-fitting dress.

Cana greeted her with a smile as Lucy pulled the door open, "Hey Lu- Wow... Nice outfit!"

The brunette's eyes inspected Lucy's choice of attire, nodding with a small, appreciative whistle.

"It's not too much?" Lucy asked inquisitively as she fiddled with the hem as if to pull it down to cover more of her thighs.

"Too much? Girl, it's been a while since I've seen you in anything so sexy!" Cana exclaimed, gently extending a hand to run her fingers down the dress lightly. Cana's own choice of attire was of a bikini top and shirt – most likely she planned to take a dip in Loke's heated outdoor pool.  
"You should probably wear some shoes though." She grinned, pointing downwards to Lucy's bare feet.

"Of course I'm going to wear shoes, Cana! Just give me a few minutes to finish getting ready!" Lucy retorted.

Lucy scampered back into her bedroom, bending down to look under her small double bed for several shoe boxes that she had, that held her fancier shoe collection – the ones that she rarely got to wear anymore ever since her move to Magnolia.

It took a bit of rummaging, pulling out the various worn boxes and checking the contents for a pair she believed that would work with her outfit. It was still summer after all so her preferred go-to choice of boots was still out of the question.

"Lucy, is this the dungeon thingy you were on about a few days ago?" Cana called out, causing Lucy to glance up from her crouched position by the foot of her bed. Cana was holding her character sheet in her palms, carefully reading the contents with an amused expression in her eyes.

"Yeah, careful with that. It's got everything about my character on it," Lucy responded, continuing on with her search into the next shoebox.

"A druid called Luna huh? Didn't think you'd be the type to run around in the woods and be hugging squirrels and trees," Cana expressed as she flipped to the second page of extensive notes.

"I don't. It's a roleplaying game. You don't have to be the stereotype," Lucy huffed. "My character comes from nobility and was taught star magic by her mother."

Cana looked at her knowingly, putting the sheet back down where she found it. "Kind of like your mum taught you how to find constellations huh?" She asked quietly.

Lucy bit her lip nervously, thinking back to her mother and the late nights they shared – well, late for a child – and learning several constellations and their affixed stories. A bittersweet memory as well as one of her strongest. She had been thinking of her when she had written that backstory for her character. Too bad there was no real magic in the stars, unlike the fantasy game she was engaged in.

"Y-yeah. A tribute perhaps," Lucy wistfully replied.

Cana didn't say anything for a few moments. Lucy's mother had always been a sore subject but Lucy had always done her best to not let it bring her down.

"Your character sounds nice… I don't understand the rest of the sheet though," Cana eventually said.

"That's okay. Maybe I'll explain it to you if you ever wanna play one day!" Lucy half-jokingly replied. She couldn't see Cana playing D&D but if she ever did, she would make for an interesting roleplayer.

Cana didn't respond to that, instead choosing to focus on the evening ahead, "You found the shoes you want yet? Loke'll be waiting."

Lucy soon found the pair she was looking for, red sandals with a sensible heel but with enough flair to pass for appropriate party material. With her make-up, hair and gifts all sorted before she had even decided on the dress, Lucy braced herself for Loke's party. She was determined to have some fun this evening – D&D could wait, this was a time to let loose with the very friends that kept her company for the first couple of years of her freedom.

* * *

A party at Loke's was much like attending a formal event with the expectation that celebrities _could_ be attending except there would also be countless people, loud music, fancy drinks, fancy food, fancy cars, just fancy everything. It wasn't a stuffy, polite affair that Lucy was accustomed to having grown up in the Heartfilia household, but the type of party that people could later boast about and that they were one of the lucky attendees of such an event.

When the taxi had dropped Lucy and Cana off in front of the beautiful, cascading steps that led to the home of the birthday boy, the joyous sounds of party goers permeated the local area. Several more well-dressed individuals politely stepped the duo to make their way eagerly towards the condo.

Cana was positively brimming with excitement, almost yanking Lucy's arm as she desperately pulled her towards the steps.

"C-Cana, calm down!" Lucy cried out, almost dropping the shiny, gold-coloured gift bag she held in the process.

"Nu-uh, I want a drink before everyone else drinks the place dry!" Cana called back.

They had barely got to the front door before Lucy spotted Loke standing near the entrance, greeting each guest fondly with a cheerful smile. The man himself, as expected, was dressed in his trademark attire – a fine tailored suit and a pair of expensive shades.

He was quick to spot the two of them of course, a satisfied look embracing his features as he eyed them up and down.

"Well hello ladies, you're both looking exceedingly beautiful this fine evening…" He purrs at them, his eyes glittering over their voluptuous forms.

"Nice to see ya Loke, how's the evening going so far?" Cana quickly replied, capturing the attention of the birthday boy as his eyes darted between the two women in front of him.

"Wonderfully!" He stated, "My closest friends are all here and now you two, the most positively, captivating maidens have also arrived!" He fiddled with his tie upon saying this, a jovial gleam embracing him. Lucy couldn't help but give a small hum of appreciation: the man was cheesy but he meant it as a compliment.

"It's good to see you again, Loke," Lucy then greeted him with, holding out her gift bag with a happy smile, "and happy birthday!"

"Why Lucy, you didn't have to!" He smirked, placing his hand over hers. "Bring it to me later, I want to give you my full attention after I've greeted all of my guests."

Lucy nodded, taking the bag back understandingly.

"Until then, please: drink, be merry and enjoy the evening!"

With that, Cana thanked him and pulled Lucy inside, the noise from the built-in sound system hammering around them as guests mingled and danced in what felt like every corner of the house. Lucy didn't even think about trying to navigate as Cana dragged her confidently through the crowds.

They quickly found themselves in one of the rooms that served as a small bar, expertly crafted into something that looked Romanesque accompanied by a whole plethora of alcohol and spirits that littered its cabinets. Behind the bar's counter was a tall, burly man, also in a fine suit with a face that was both guarded and gentle although curiously, he wore his shades inside.

He gave a small nod as Cana pulled Lucy into an opening at the front of the bar.

"Salutations, what can I get for you this evening?" The suited man greeted them.

"Oh wow, Loke hired a bartender for the evening?" Lucy asked, not aware in the slightest that she was speaking out loud.

The man gave a small but humored laugh. "Not at all, I'm an old friend of his. My name is Caprico."

"Well, it's nice ta meet ya Caprico… now how about a drink for me and the lady!" Cana asked although she didn't come across as impolite. Cana then chose to wrap her arm around Lucy's waist, pulling them together jokingly.

"Cana! Come on, cut it out!" Lucy spoke up as a blush enveloped her cheeks. It was all in jest, of course, Lucy knew that, but it didn't save her from embarrassment regardless.

Caprico offered another small chuckle at the antics, having already placed two martini glasses on the counter before him and was currently in the process of pouring a reddish mixture into a shaker. Lucy couldn't place why, but something about the man-made her feel as if he were already an old friend of hers somehow. It was a peculiar but passing feeling.

Before long, the two ladies held two red appletinis and were sipping them with slightly soured expressions etched on their faces as the shock of drinking good quality vodka hit the back of their throats, both unused to the taste. Cana eagerly chugged hers down after her initial reaction before questioning Caprico on how he made the delectable drinks.

Unfortunately for Lucy, whilst Cana was distracted, she was now finding a bit harder to relax. In the five minutes that had passed, Lucy had three different men approach with the same ogling expressions that her so-called supervisor also shared, their hazy, inebriated eyes clearly focused on every other part of her body other than her face.

Naturally, she declined each other their advances. You'd think that a twenty-year-old woman still in the throes of studying away from the confines of her parents home might be more open to having a bit of 'fun' at a festive event but Lucy was not such a woman – she clung to the idea that she might meet someone that she could love first before giving herself to them fully. A casual hook-up? Not for her and she knew that.

Lucy let out an exasperated sigh, swigging down the last of her drink, the vodka almost making her eyes water in the process. Her last 'suitor' had distracted her long enough for her not to notice that Cana had sauntered off and it became suddenly clear why when someone loudly shouted the name 'Bacchus' over the mingling crowds. Cana was going to be a while and she was probably going to be drinking far more than Lucy could ever manage.

Lucy honestly though, needed some air from the stuffy room and she had hoped she might have run into somebody she knew instead of dealing with some of Loke's more _direct_ guests.

She made her way towards the back of the room, the sliding doors already open as people overflowed outside onto Loke's patio. It was quieter out there, away from the music and sweat. The gentle summer night's breeze made Lucy feel instantly refreshed and she made the choice to head on down to be by the pool which a few of Loke's guests were already making use of.

Lucy sat on one of the deckchairs, gently placing the gift bag to one side. In her rush to get to the party, she had never even thought to bring a bikini although it's not like it was meant to be a pool party. Perhaps that was for the best considering the unwanted attention she had already been attracting. She definitely felt confident, attractive and maybe even a little bit alluring in her outfit choice, but she did it for herself more than anything else. She wanted to feel good. It wasn't an open invitation to others in the slightest.

She hadn't been sitting down for very long before her phone was vibrating in her sparkly clutch bag. Desperate for some friendly company, Lucy almost dropped the damn thing in her hurry to get it out. She hadn't checked it in hours, ever since the ageing device had lost its signal and became virtually uselessly for a while. Her eyes lit up when she saw that she had received a text and she couldn't help but smile when she saw the sender: Erza. Lucy wasted no time to read the contents.

 **Erza:** _Dear Lucy. I wish to invite you to the Dungeons and Dragons group chat for the purposes of relaying information between our current group members, is this request acceptable to you? Sincerely, Erza._

Lucy was a little surprised to the fact that Erza was overly formal in her texts. The previous text from her was equally as formal but well, nobody texts like that! Then the horrifying thought struck her – would Erza be expecting her to text her back in a similar fashion?

It took Lucy a few minutes to debate this internally, fidget and bounce her foot anxiously as she tapped out and deleted her response over and over. Eventually, she decided to screw it and just reply normally. Having friends meant being yourself, right? Still, she kept her acronyms and slang out just in case Erza had no idea what they meant. She hadn't even noticed that the message she had received had arrived hours ago.

 **Lucy:** _Hi Erza. Yes, that's fine. How is D &D going?_

A couple of minutes passed and Erza had undoubtedly put her phone away to play as well as Lucy's initial response time not being the best. Before long though, Erza's response finally arrived.

**Erza:** _Dear Lucy. I shall add you to the group henceforth. The game is going well although your company is sorely missed. We have undertaken a bounty and Natsu almost got his character killed. I hope your social engagement is going well. Sincerely, Erza._

Lucy let out an amused laugh, both at Erza's continued formal responses and at her indifference to Natsu's character. She wondered if it would have been different had she been there, freely offering up her single healing spell. She grinned warmly at that thought although she was keen to start dishing out some more damage in battles. Perhaps the others would be more careful if they knew that was what she intended.  
What warmed her most of all was that Erza said that she was missed and well… it made her feel like she was truly part of their group. She wasted no further time in responding.

**Lucy:** _I hope the bounty goes well! I wish I could be there and I feel bad for missing out!_

Erza's response this time was sharp as nails.

**Erza:** _Dear Lucy. Not to worry, Gray assures us that we will not progress the story unless you are present. Your character is resting safely at the inn. Sincerely, Erza._

The speed in which Erza replied was remarkable considering the formal wordage. Lucy suspected that she was undoubtedly, very accustomed to sending messages in this manner.

Lucy knew that she was distracting Erza from their game and that was unfair on them so she resigned to only send one more message before making another attempt to be social at Loke's party. After all, it was the height of bad manners to turn up and then spend the evening sitting on your phone.

Before she could finish what she wanted to send however, a shadow loomed over her, blocking out the bright lights from the condo nearby. The distraction caused Lucy to halt in her typing and look at the culprit.

"Is my party not to your liking, Princess?" Came the familiar voice of her ginger-haired friend.

Lucy gave Loke a bashful smile although she knew the man was only teasing her. "No! Your party is great, Loke, really! I just uh, needed some fresh air." Lucy replied, a little more curtly than she meant it to be.

Loke adjusted his shades and took a seat on the deckchair opposite of her, his legs swung loosely over the side as he looked at her keenly.

"You really do look very beautiful tonight." He finally said, causing Lucy to turn away shyly. The man always knew how to make a lady feel good about herself.

"T-thanks. You look good t-too." She stammered back although struggled to maintain eye contact with him. Her response seemed to please the well-tailored man as he pursed his lips in an amused fashion.

"I think it's about time we caught up, it's been some time since I've seen you. How have you been?" He asked, the tension between the two quickly passing and settling into something more casual, like old friends.

"I should be asking you that, it's your birthday!" Lucy kindly retorted.

"Well, you know me. Same old. I don't really want to talk about business on my birthday." He cocked his head expectantly, "so come on, how has life been?"

Lucy wasn't sure where to start. She decided to talk briefly about her work although she left out the part involving her supervisor – the last thing she wanted was her overly flirtatious but protective friend to jump to her defense and risk her position within the company. She then briefly talked about Levy and Cana followed by a new book she had picked up recently before finally asking him about Caprico.

Loke talked keenly about his friends and how most of them were here today but finding them all among the crowd was proving difficult. Lucy didn't miss how he spoke rather fondly of a woman who was curiously named 'Aries'. Perhaps it was a nickname or one of the many pet names that Loke seemed to exclusively reserve for many of his female friends.

When Lucy felt comfortable enough, she decided to bring up her newest interest.

"… and that's when I start playing Dungeons and Dragons."

Loke's face was one of confusion. "Dungeons and… Dragons?"

"Yeah, it's a tabletop game you play with friends!" Lucy's enthusiasm became quite apparent.

"… That game that all the nerds play?" He asked before he suddenly starting laughing, lightly slapping his knee jovially in the process.

To say Lucy was surprised by this was an understatement. How Loke found that funny was, well, baffling. She watched him with wide eyes as her fingertips gripped the edges of her seat.

"Wha-?" She barely managed to get out.

"Sorry, sorry!" Loke laughed out, "I just- well, you're hardly the type to play those kind of games, Lucy! I mean, you're as far from nerdy as it gets!"

Lucy was not only shocked by his bold statement about her but maybe even a little hurt. She knew she didn't fit the stereotype – the one of a young man that still lived with his parents, playing video games in the basement – but to hear Loke practically laugh at her for it was not what she had expected from him. It wasn't just that either: she didn't need to fulfill a certain stereotype in order to play: if she had, then Natsu would have never approached her in the first place, right?

"Actually, Loke." She began, her voice sounding on par to be as fierce as Erza's, "I quite enjoy the game and my new friends are great, really great." She seethed out. She wasn't angry-angry, but she was going to certainly make a point.

"If you knew me well enough, you would know that I've always enjoyed the fantasy genre of storytelling, that I loved fairy tales growing up and that I want to write my own novel one day: filled with wizards, dragons and magical quests." She explained, her eyes fierce, almost more so than the words she spoke.

A part of her was also really upset that Loke didn't know her as well as she thought he did and even that left her asking herself if he had ever listened to anything she had ever talked about.  
She wasn't even sure she wanted to know that answer to that. He was her friend, a good friend and until recently, they had talked a lot more than they currently were.

Loke said nothing, instead, he watched her apologetically, as if he were searching for the correct words to say to her. Lucy needed a moment to gather her thoughts and brush away the creeping insecurities regarding her friendship with the man.

"I-I… I'm going to the bathroom." Lucy finally said, quickly getting up and walking around the edge of the pool in the direction of the condo. Not only was she questioning the basis of their friendship but now the guilt was settling in – perhaps he had been joking and she didn't realize? Did she just call him out on his own birthday? Gods, what kind of friend was she in return?

She was about to turn around to say something along the lines of apologizing when she felt a sharp grab of her right wrist, causing her to yelp in surprise also inadvertently causing to swing around only to lose her balance.

Lucy wasn't even aware that she had fallen back into the pool, the loud splash earning startled yelps from nearby party-goers in the process. Stinging water washed over her eyes as she felt herself sinking as she quickly became aware of what had just happened.

Through the clear, albeit unnatural waters, Lucy saw an arm reach out and she hoisted herself up with a push, spluttering and coughing as she resurfaced. It took a moment for her to snap her eyes to the owner of the arm, Loke, who was reaching out to her with a mixture of shock and sorries etched into his face.

"Lucy, I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to startle you like that!" He said, gesturing for her to take his arm which she accepted as he helped lift her out over the pool's edge. Once she had regained her bearings, she shot Loke one hell of an annoyed look. He hadn't meant for that to happen but she was now soaked to the bone and her purse-

Lucy let out a small gasp and rushed to check the contents of her clutch bag that she had been carrying over her shoulder. She let out a sigh of relief upon seeing the contents fine, despite being wet and that her phone was still functioning – for the time being at least. She didn't have high hopes that there wouldn't be some lasting damage.

"Lucy, please, I'm really sorry. Let me get you a shirt or something." Loke uttered next to her, already getting to his feet.

"Loke." Lucy quietly uttered. He didn't reply as he awaited her next words.

"I don't need a shirt. I'm fine. In fact, I want another drink." She said with a clear edge to her voice, "and it's okay, everything is okay." She didn't sound convincing and she knew it.

Lucy glanced over to where she had been sitting, thankful that she had forgotten to pick up her gift bag and as a result, not ruined the contents in the water. "Your gift is over there." She stated to Loke before walking off without another word. She needed to clean up and the last thing she needed to do was to drip all over the gifts she had painstakingly searched all over town for.

She hadn't meant to be harsh, she just really needed a moment. A quick stop by one of Loke's ornate bathrooms revealed that her makeup had barely smudged but her appearance was… questionable at best. The tight-fitting dress now clung to her even more tightly, even after she tried to wring out some of the water over the shower cubicle. She had hoped there would be a hairdryer in the room at least but she had no such luck – she should have just turned up in a damn bikini. At least then she wouldn't look like a drowned rat and the amount of not-so-subtle advances would have been on par with what she had already been getting.

Of course, Loke was waiting for her when she finally came out, holding out one of his shirts with an apologetic smile – she didn't miss his sly survey of her outfit and by extension, body.

"It's fine, Loke. I don't need one of your shirts." She reiterated calmly but Loke obviously caught on to her frustration.

"I'm sorry again, Lucy." He echoed. He opened his mouth as if to say more but was interrupted by a manly yell from the other side of the house. They both turned to the direction of the distraction when Loke was hastily approached by a pink-haired woman in a maid's outfit.

"Loke, it's Scorpio and Aquarius – they're fighting again. They might require punishment." She briskly stated monotonously.

"Shit," Loke muttered under his breath, a weird moment for Lucy as she never thought Loke to be the swearing type. He then turned back to Lucy. "I've got to go and check on this, do you mind?"

Lucy nodded tiredly, and Loke offered a meager smile as he dashed off, following the oddly dressed woman through the crowd.

Ignoring that she was garnering strange, amused looks from the nearby guests for all the wrong reasons from her damp appearance, Lucy soon had a fresh drink from a concerned Caprico in her hand which she promptly downed in one, ignoring the tart, sour taste it had. She preferred sweet but right now, she needed something that would shock her senses just a little. Before long, she had downed a couple more, hoping they would at least take away how self-conscious she had become.

Lucy then made the choice to find Cana and perhaps they could laugh at the whole ordeal that had just happened outside. It proved to be a futile attempt of course – the woman was nowhere to be found. She supposed it was to be expected – it was Murphy's Law in full force tonight. That or Cana had met her match when it came to drinking. Cana spoke of Bacchus as if he were the reigning drinking champion of well, something alcohol-based and that it was her personal goal to beat him.

No sooner than had Lucy felt defeated in her search did the lewd comments start rolling in from the increasingly drunk guys and occasionally, women. Her soaked dress had left very little to the imagination by this point, especially to the area surrounding her bust. That was finally enough for Lucy, she wanted to go home.

Her search for Loke was also was fruitless. Pushing through crowds of drunkenly dancing guests was a challenge in itself and Lucy resigned herself to just sending Loke a message on her phone, informing him that she was going home and they should catch up at a later date – along with one last happy birthday of course.

Leaving the house wasn't as much of a challenge compared as to trying to navigate it, but as Lucy traversed back down the same steps she used to enter the place originally, the strength of the alcohol in her system began to kick in. She was by no means, stumbling, but her focal view was certainly much more _'floaty'_. Is that even the right word she could use to describe it? Wait, that wasn't even a word and the wannabe author inside of her told her off immediately, earning the blonde woman a small giggle.

She didn't call a taxi, that was expensive and she could walk. She wasn't _that_ bad.

* * *

Twenty minutes later, Lucy was cursing herself for her stupid, reckless and the blatantly influenced by the vodka in her system, choice.

She knew where she was but unfortunately where she was wasn't where she should be in her current state. Her home was thankfully, in a decent part of Magnolia. An area with little crime, decent neighbors and a few small corner shops that were honest and good to their customers. However, her neighborhood was near a canal that divided the town and whereas her friendly neighborhood was on one side, the other side wasn't as peachy.

To get to her apartment from Loke's, she would have to walk along the main road that followed the canal, placing her directly between her own, mostly safe territory and the less than trustworthy territory on the other side.

So not only was she a _little bit_ tipsy, still damp and consequently, cold – but she had to endure the wolf whistles and shouts in her direction from the other side of the canal. On top of that, she still had a fair bit to walk too.

Lucy tried to distract herself by gazing up at the stars, silently tracing a few constellations in her mind in hopes it would bring her some comfort. A series of thoughts were also making their rounds in her head – mostly worries that Cana and Loke would be upset that she upped and left as she did.

She involuntarily shivered as a breeze passed her – at least her hair had dried off a fair bit in the walk.

There was yet another wolf whistle. She cursed her dress sense once again.

Lucy tried to forget about her surroundings and let her feet just walk her home. As long as she was on the sidewalk by the main road, walking under the overhead lighting on her side of the canal, she would be fine.

This tactic perhaps worked too well as she barely noticed the voice calling out to her.

"Lucy!"

She blearily looked around in front of her, not seeing anyone in particular.

"Lucy, wait up!"

There was no mistaking it, she had played many hours of D&D with that voice, loud as it was, echoing around and the prospect that _he_ had found her walking as she currently was, well, it certainly caught her off guard.

"Natsu?" She barely uttered out, as if she wasn't sure to if she were just hearing things or not.

She decided that if he wasn't to be seen ahead of her, he has to be somewhere behind her. An all too quick spin on her feet had her facing in the opposite direction, almost causing her to lose her footing if it wasn't for the fact she smacked herself right into a man's chest.

Lucy only slightly recoiled from surprise and embarrassment, promptly steadying herself as she peered up into the face of one of her overly friendly D&D comrades. She noticed his usual, wild, rosy hair, his loose t-shirt that made her wonder how he wasn't the least bit chilly (well, there was that strange scarf she supposed) and she expected to see the damn smile of his again. She didn't get that though.

Natsu looked just as surprised as she was, his face suddenly frowned with concern after a few seconds, leading Lucy to believe she had annoyed him some how.

"I'm sorry! I didn't mean to walk into you!" She blurted out a little too loudly into the streets.

His face switched to one of confusion before he appeared to observe her up and down, a gesture Lucy had quite gotten used to all night long but with Natsu, it felt not so… unappreciated? Yep, Lucy confirmed she should have avoided downing the last two drinks, she was starting to think strange thoughts.

"… Are you okay?" He finally asked.

She double blinked at him stupidly at him, as if she wasn't sure if she had registered what he had just said – or to be more accurate, surprised at what she _hadn't_ been expecting him to say. Her lips contorted awkwardly and then she eventually managed to respond, "Huh?"

"You look like you've jumped in the canal," Natsu said bluntly, gesturing to her clothes and the murky canal beside them.

Lucy stepped away from him, crossing her arms over her chest definitely and stared at him with annoyance. Is that really what he thought she'd do? That was his most logical conclusion to her current appearance?!

"Y-You… Do you think I went for a swim in the canal? Dressed like this?" She almost yelled but with only a fragment of the irritation she thought she had brewing within her. She told herself it was definitely the booze making her feel irrational.

"Well, how else did you end up like that?" Natsu asked her back, shrugging at her question although his gaze never left hers.

"I slipped into a pool and now I'm going home, thank you very _muchhh_!" She knew she had slurred her last word. Heck, if she had somehow managed to hiccup too, she'd be completing the whole _'I'm a silly dumb drunk'_ package.

Another thought occurred to her; she didn't want Natsu to see her like this. She had managed to mostly keep herself to herself during games, manners in check and ensure she made an attempt to be a good player at the table. Him seeing her like this was an embarrassment for them both and thankfully, the vodka in her system was dampening those effects for the time being but she was aware enough to know she didn't want him to judge her now or at their next game.

She turned to leave, uttering a small 'bye' under her breath as she prepared to hurry her pace and get home that little bit sooner.

She didn't expect Natsu's warm hand to reach out and grab hers, preventing her from carrying out this plan.

Any other situation and she'd have started screaming already but she felt no fear of the 'unspeakable' happening with him. Instead, she looked back up at him curiously, awaiting his next words. Would he tell her she's not welcome at D&D anymore? Would he tell her that he expected better of her – a quick image of her father's face gracing her mind and leaving just as fast.

"You're a weirdo, Lucy." He then stated, "and I'm gonna walk ya home."

No sooner had he said that, the dumbstruck intern felt him tug on her hand as he passed her, pulling her in the direction she was originally heading in.

"W-wait!" She abruptly almost-shouted, causing him to release her hand and eye her oddly.

Did she really want him to walk her home – like this? She hadn't even registered that he had been holding her hand – his very warm but not so sweaty hands – and did he even know…

"How do you know where I live?" She asked before she could continue her chain of overthinking.

He rolled his eyes at her. "You said last week, remember? When Erza took ya home?"

Her memory took a moment to recall it. In fact, her brain seemed to be struggling with a lot of things at the moment. A very brief memory surfaced of her telling Erza and Natsu saying that he lived nearby. That explained with they ran into each other at least.

"Come on, you're gettin' cold," Natsu spoke once again, placing his arm behind her back in order to gently press her into moving but then keeping his hands to his sides afterwards.

A few minutes passed silently. Lucy wasn't sure what to say to him. She felt guilty of course; he had found her intoxicated and walking home alone and he undoubtedly felt obligated to make sure she was safe- at least that's what she hoped he was doing. There was always the pepper spray in her purse if it turns out that wasn't the case.

A short glance at him, however, made Lucy feel as if that would not be a necessary action. She felt safe, safer than she had been on her own. It helped that natural warmth seemed to radiate from his body, making Lucy wonder if she could get away with walking a bit closer to him in order to leech some of it from him.

That earned her an internal scolding as that would seem kinda creepy in her eyes. It was just… strange that he was that warm. Then again, she was cold, damp and walking a lengthy road late at night – a skinny, stray cat would probably feel warm to her too right now.

"We missed you at D&D," Natsu finally said, looking to his side to capture her attention. She didn't know why she blushed – _curse tha_ _t_ _vodka_.

"Yeah? I'm sorry I couldn't go tonight," Lucy said quietly, thankfully not slurring this time.

He gave her a small, appreciative smile, "We were okay without ya though, nothin' bad happened." Lucy wasn't sure if this made her feel good or bad.

"What did everyone do then?" Lucy asked with genuine curiosity.

"So me an' lug nuts got into a tavern brawl and thrown in jail-"

Lucy didn't hold back the shocked gasp, bringing her hands to cover her mouth. She recalled how Erza's earlier message mentioned that Natsu's character had nearly died. Her gesture, however, seemed to amuse Natsu as he continued, "-and it was totally worth it. Lotta fun!"

"Did… did you get out?" Lucy cautiously asked, hoping that her character wouldn't be attending a trip to watch her comrades hang at the gallows or anything like that at the next session.

"Hm, Erza bailed us out-"

Lucy swore he winced at the mention of that.

"-and then we went to do a bounty for some extra gold."

A gentle smile embraced her face, "It sounds like you had fun," Lucy didn't feel any resentment for missing out, it probably would have made for a more fun evening than what hers had turned out to be but knowing that everyone had enjoyed themselves warmed her heart.

"… You'll be there next Saturday, right?" Natsu suddenly asked although Lucy did not pick up the urgency in his voice.

"Yeah, I don't have any more Saturday plans coming up." Lucy fondly answered him.

Lucy felt herself blush yet again when his trademark, toothy smile returned with his canine teeth prominent and she had to turn away, biting at her lip nervously.

"That's great!" He stated, "cause we're finally gonna be startin' a real quest."

Lucy had barely noticed in the midst of their conversation that they had finally left the sidewalk by the canal and had made their way down the block that led to Strawberry Street. Her home was only a couple of minutes away at the most.

"Has Gray said what it's about?" Lucy asked although she was more curious about what he meant by a 'real quest'.

Natsu shook his head, "Nah, and even though he's the ice princess an' all, he'll make sure we all like it." A totally honest Natsu would have admitted to trying to take a peek at the dungeon master's notes at the end of the game when Gray hadn't been his chair. Natsu was really hoping Gray wasn't about to put them on something related to snow and ice yet again. He stopped himself from looking, barely.

"Also..." Natsu began, just as the pair began to fall back in silence, "now that you're part of the Fairy Tail group an' all-"

"The Fairy Tail group?" Lucy cut in, earning herself a small, but a friendly frown from the pink-haired man.

"Hey, lemme finish!" He exclaimed in good humor.

"Sorry."

"Anyways, you should come in early next week so I can show ya around the store and get ya some dice of your own."

It was a request that Lucy didn't see as entirely unreasonable.

"But I already have some dice…" She answered, thinking back to her mismatched dice set that sat at home on her desk in a small little pouch.

"Yeah, but those are Gray's spares…" Natsu sounded anything but pleased about that, "you should bring your own lucky dice!"

Lucy didn't have to think about it much, she'd been borrowing those dice for a while and if she wanted to demonstrate she was committed to the group, she should start showing it. "Perhaps you're right."

She could see her apartment now, they were only seconds away from her door. She gestured this Natsu, who looked ready to keep on walking, lost in conversation. It took him a moment to realize where he was.

"So what's the Fairy Tail group?" Lucy managed to finally ask him as she fumbled for her keys.

Natsu lit up as if there were metaphorical light bulb over his head, probably having forgotten he was meant to explain that to her too. "Our group is called the Fairy Tail group 'cause we're members of the Fairy Tail guild in the world we play in."

"Oh, is that all?" Lucy asked, certain that there would have been more to it. Turns out, she was right.

"There is more, there are other groups that play on different days but we're all in the same campaign world." He paused as he racked his brain for a way to explain it, "It's the same world that everyone plays in at the store, that way, we can always join another group if somethin' happens to our own."

Lucy, even with the vodka fading from her system, felt as if she understood. It would make sense for their group to not be their only group that played there.

"I see…" She said, bringing out her keys and placing them into the stiff lock. This, she supposed, is where she would be saying goodnight. "Thanks for uh, seeing I got home safe, Natsu." It certainly sounded more awkward than she intended. She couldn't place why she was being so socially… weird around him. Maybe he wasn't wrong in calling her a weirdo.

"No problem, Lucy!" He said cheerily. "See ya soon, yeah?"

"Yeah, promise." She smiled back as he appeared to do the same. A moment, maybe several (Lucy wasn't sure) passed between them as they seemed to stare at one another wordlessly before she remembered she was in fact, going home and most likely, going straight to bed.

"Um, bye," she quietly said as she broke from her daze, turning to her building's door and slipping in, giving Natsu a small wave as he waved back, already beginning to walk away.

Once Lucy had made it back inside to the warmth of her small apartment, she promptly got out of her damp dress, shoes and tossed her clutch bag on the couch. Once she had settled into a warm pajama set, not caring that it was still summer because she was still feeling cold and passing on the prospect of a shower when tiredness was quickly overtaking the feeling of being under the influence, she crawled into bed with only one question left in her mind.

"What the heck is wrong with me tonight?" She asked herself out loud, her voice echoing through the apartment. After some soul searching, she concluded that it was the vodka making her think and behave strangely. She fell asleep quickly with the guilty thought that maybe choosing to walk home wasn't such a bad idea after all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another longish chapter but don't worry, we're back to D&D in the next chapter with the plot surrounding that starting to take form!
> 
> *I've noticed I have a lot of US readers – as this fic is set in the country of Fiore and plenty of Fairy Tail guild members are seen drinking alcohol, (namely Cana who was 18 years old when the manga began?) I'm going to assume that the drinking age is somewhere around the age of 16/17/18 (even if the time period is a bit different) therefore, the drinking by Lucy and Cana is of legal age in this story. It must suck not being able to drink legally until 21 though, I rather enjoyed ordering my first pint when I was 18 years old down at the local pub!
> 
> **Also don't walk home by yourself drunk.
> 
> Also, I've yet to play a druid in D&D: I have always played with people that want to hog the druid spot and whereas I'm not against multiple of the same class in the same game – I usually fulfil the mage role (Wizard, Warlock, Sorcerer) which is my personal favourite role!


	6. No Musicals Please

**Saturday, August 22nd**

Payday was close, just another week to go and Lucy could stop making those cheap but affordable veggie stir fry recipes for her evening meals. She bet she wasn't the only one who made it month to month with next to nothing left in her bank account but she bet at that very moment in time, she was the only one weighing up whether or not that she could afford to buy a set of dice.

As promised, she had turned up to Strauss Games (it seems that's what the regulars referred to it as) earlier than usual, to be given a guided tour from a very eager Natsu. It was endearing, flattering even, that he considered her as a trustworthy team member so readily already and wasted no time in introducing her to a bit more of the world that he and his friends shared, both in and out of the game.

He had practically jumped himself at her when he saw her entering the store, not even waiting a moment for her to get settled by her usual seat before directing her over to a schedule that hung near to the main counter.

"Hello to you too, Natsu," Lucy muttered under her breath amidst his shouts of 'come look at this!'.

His actions had, naturally, enraptured the attention of both the staff and customers – Lisanna, in particular, throwing them both a curious look as Natsu grinned eagerly as he proudly stood by the timetable on the wall. Lucy meekly shrugged back at her, equally just as confused and also embarrassed by the rambunctious man's actions.

"What am I looking at?" Lucy asked him, as she looked upon the list on the wall, each line separated by each day of the week.

"It's the other groups!" Natsu exclaimed, proudly pointing to their group on the schedule which could be seen placed in the 'Saturday' slot, "and that's us, the best group obviously!"

Why he was determined for her to see the timetable was a mystery to Lucy but she could only theorize it was in part of Natsu's need to introduce her to his world here at Strauss Games. Lucy's own natural curiosity of course, allowed her to go ahead and check out the names of the other teams and their associated dungeon masters – the only given names included on the list.

To no surprise, Sunday and Monday were empty, the shop was closed then. The next line caught her attention.

"'Tuesday: The Thunder God Tribe, Dungeon Master: Laxus Dreyar.'" She spoke aloud, turning head towards Natsu in a questioning manner, "That's a weird team name."

"Says the weirdo," he jabbed back with his usual mirth, earning a pout from the blonde at which he almost seemed to revel in.

"You're the weirdo around here, Natsu, making all that noise and nearly knocking things off the shelves to drag me here!" She retorted back, hoping to get a little rise out of him in return.

He waved off her response with a cheeky smirk, seemingly ignoring her jab at his behavior, "They were called Thunder Legion but somethin' happened in their game that made 'em change it."

Lucy, now knowing that other groups existed, wanted to know a little more – not because she had any desire to try and get involved in another game but a part of her wanted to know if they were anything like her own group.

"What's the game master like? Laxus?" Lucy asked with intrigue. Lucy had observed her own dungeon master and drawn a few conclusions about him. Gray seemed reserved, his emotions kept in check except when he and Natsu began to throw harmless insults. She thought maybe that Gray was just shy but there were times during his campaign that he seemed more outspoken.

Unexpectedly, her question to Natsu earned her a strange frown as the man narrowed his eyebrows at her as he looked as if he were trying to study her for something. Was this 'Laxus' someone he wasn't fond of or was it something else? Lucy quickly decided it was best not to sour his mood, "Never mind."

"… I like him but he never lets me join his games." Natsu responded after a few moments, ignoring her last reply. "But he can be kinda a jerk sometimes."

"But you're already in our group though?" Lucy questioned more than stated, not realizing until the words had already left her mouth that she had said the word, 'our'. When she did realize, she also realized she quite liked the way it sounded, 'our group', as if it made the fact that she was a part of the gang now more real – to be accepted… wanted – it made her almost giddy at the thought.

"Yeah, but ya can be on more than one, ain't like there's any competition or nothin'." Natsu replied although it was obvious to her that he _wanted_ competition for some reason or other. He paused and his eyes looked further down the list.

"But ya don't wanna ask to be on that team though, cause' they're uh, mean." He was pointing at the Friday slot which appeared to belong to a group called 'Sabertooth' which was run by one, 'Minerva Orland'.

Lucy didn't have a chance to ask anything more before Natsu was already tugging at her arm, not so gently pulling her towards the other end of the store. She didn't feel like protesting to his over-eager behavior, slowly letting him expel his excitement.

She found herself near some of the tabletop merchandise; rows of small, both painted and unpainted miniatures similar to what her group already had but unfortunately none of which fitted the description of her character. There were also several copies of various D&D books and manuals – both official and unofficial (or so she presumed) and Lucy promised herself she would remember to pick up her own book come payday – she had always preferred books over using the internet as her sources of information.

Natsu in particular was directing her attention to an odd-looking display of what Lucy could only describe as 'pick'n'mix dice'. There must have been at least twenty different, small plastic container boxes that contained a multitude of dice in various colors.

"When I saw ya last, I said you should get some dice of your own instead of ice stripper's spares!" He reminded her as he began to pick a few red-colored dice out to fiddle with.

As much as she liked the idea, Lucy's first concern, like most of her concerns these days, was the cost. She desperately looked around for a price but after only taking a few seconds to find it, she discovered that a full set of seven dice would only cost her 750J. "Oh good, they're not pricey…" She uttered, thinking that nobody would hear her.

"Well yeah, they're only dice." Natsu replied to her, Lucy suddenly being reminded that this guy had the most amazing hearing in existence as far as she knew.

Lucy started silently, rapidly, counting her remaining funds in her mind, swiftly concluding she could spare the tiny amount. In fairness, she was hoping that she could spare something as a container of translucent pink dice had caught her eye during her perusal of the available choices.

Natsu observed her quietly as she toyed and poked the various dice, offering a smile of his own when he caught her excited grin as she began to look for pink dice, picking out the ones she would need to complete a set. There was something about seeing her happy and really getting into his weekly game pleased him a lot more than he would have expected from watching her but he didn't think too much on this. He liked seeing his friends happy.

Satisfied with her selection and certain that she had all the dice she needed, Lucy presented her dice to Natsu, unknowingly asking for his approval but mostly wanting to demonstrate her commitment to their shared hobby.

"Didn't realize you liked my hair color so much." He jestingly said to her, earning a pout from the keen blonde and subsequently causing her to cross her arms defensively towards him.

"I didn't pick them because of your hair! I'll have you know pink is one of my favorite colors along with blue!" She said in a huff, turning heel to make for the counter towards a curious but no less eager awaiting Mira.

Natsu snickered to himself, motioning to join Lucy as she paid for her first piece of D&D merchandise. He had been prepared to pay out of his own wallet for her after seeing her reluctance to buy anything to drink or eat during their games but was actually relieved to see she wasn't totally broke. Besides, he reckoned that there might be some new snacks in this week anyway if the stacked cardboard boxes behind the counter were anything to go by and he could probably get Lisanna to reveal to him what the contents might be.

* * *

"Are you sure we're ready for this, Gray?" Erza asked incredulously.

"Yeah, I am, but it's still up to the rest of you if you want to start it yet." He answered plainly, a hint of seriousness behind his words.

"Hell yeah! bout' time!" Natsu roared, nearly jumping from his seat in the process as he pumped a fist with vigor as a fierce determination overwhelmed him.

"Gihi,." Gajeel chuckled. "Sounds like fun."

Lucy on the other hand was more in agreement with Erza although likely for different reasons from hers.

Their party had just returned to the guildhall and as expected, Metalicana, having bought a new lute from the nearby markets, immediately went about performing his songs. Titania, predictably, went to collect the bounty that Lucy had not participated in but the party insisted she took a portion of the reward anyway as they were a team through and through. Natsu had Salamander start yet another brawl, but being in the confines of the guildhall, there was no risk of jail this time unless he actually intended on murdering the non-player characters – something which was seen as taboo among them if done with no prior discussion or reason.

Their group was a 'good' aligned group as she had come to understand. Each of their characters fell under the moral concept that they would strive to help others, with the exception of Metalicana, who was a 'chaotic neutral' character – someone who chose to do what he pleased, often selfishly, but without good or evil intent.

Returning to the point of Lucy's unease – the main quest had finally been brought up. She had expected it, remembering what Natsu had mentioned a week ago and the reminder that had popped up on her phone in the group chat that she had been quietly added to when she had been walking home, slightly tipsy, that same evening.

The quest was given to them personally by the guild master, an interesting old man character that Gray had tried to imitate an elder's voice for, earning laughs from the rest of the table aside from herself.

" _Listen up brats! You've been specifically asked for by the King himself in a new quest!"_

" _What quest is that, Gramps?" Salamander asked, "Somethin' with dragons?"_

" _Now that you mention it, there is a dragon involved so listen closely to the instructions I'm going to give you…"_

No doubt Gray was mimicking someone that they all knew, an inside joke that she was not a part of. It didn't bother her too much, she was determined more than ever with the little pink dice in her dainty hands to one day be a part of such jokes.

As for the quest, it was fairly simple on paper. Save a princess from a dragon – much like a child's fairy tale story. Perhaps that was the point: the name of their adventurer's guild was a play on those very words and so Gray had picked something to match it.

However, potentially fighting a dragon? That seemed like a fool's errand and Erza seemed to realize that too. Naturally, she broke 'character' (not that you could really tell when she was and wasn't in character) to question Gray and he calmly assured her that this was a quest that would encompass most of the game and they would have plenty of time to get stronger.

Lucy was broken from her thoughts to her arm being violently shaken on her right to which she met Natsu's joyous, uncontrollable enthusiasm as he was both shaking her and half-yelling.

"We're gonna slay a dragon, Lucy!" He said with all the excitement you might have expected from a child.

She couldn't really be annoyed at him for being so pumped up for the quest. A quick look over in Gray's direction made it clear the from the expression on Gray's usually calm and collected face that the man had definitely considered Natsu's interests when he had been creating the quest for them.

It wasn't obvious to most, but Lucy could see that Gajeel was looking forward to the new quest too. The various hints she had picked up about his character so far was that dragons also caught his interest but maybe not to the extent as Natsu's.

"Well then, shall we get started?" Erza eventually asked with a confident smirk on her face having accepted the quest upon seeing dedication from the two male players at the table.

Lucy just hoped she would be strong enough to not let them all down when the time came.

* * *

"A group of bandits were expecting travelers on this road and have ambushed your caravan, you're all going to need to roll initiative." Gray stated, flicking through his notes before placing six identical miniatures that bore red cloaks and daggers on the table that surrounded each of their characters and their 'caravan', a cobbled-together 'thing' made from Lego with wheels.

They each rolled with Lucy feeling hyped at rolling her new dice for the first time.

Natsu, rolling highest, was first to react to the bandits. He didn't even bother looking at his spell list, he knew immediately was he was going to do: cast 'Dragon's Breath' on himself, allowing him to breath fire at his enemies for the next ten rounds. It didn't have the longest range so he decided to spend his turn to move his character further than normally allowed to place himself closer to his targets, forgoing actually breathing any fire.

Gajeel was next, using his scimitar to make a melee attack on one of the bandits but not killing it. Lucy had observed that Gajeel tended to hold back on using his main bard abilities, choosing to save them unless the situation calls for it.

Lucy was then next to take her turn and she was more than eager to finally try out a 'starry form', using her shapeshifting magic to cause her character's body to glow and a constellation like appearance to appear on her, connected by the joints in the body. It certainly sounded poetic as Gray described it to her, even if the image was purely all in their imaginations.

She chose the form 'Archer', her mind immediately springing to thoughts of the Sagittarius constellation that she had often observed with her mother in the night sky. This form allowed her character to shoot luminous bolts and she was quick to do this, successfully hitting one of the bandits that had approached their caravan from behind.

Finally, Erza, who surprisingly hadn't rolled well despite her track record, took her turn, slashing one of the bandits closer to Salamander before using her Samurai ability to give herself some temporary hit points to increase her overall health for the battle.

With the player round finished, Gray began to take control of the bandits, rolling a dice to decide on which of them would target which player.

Lucy's heart dropped when she saw that three of the bandits were moved towards her character, another choosing to fire an arrow, successfully hitting Luna and causing her to lose a third of her overall health in one blow. The remaining bandits were the ones that had been attacked by Metalicana and Titania and thus, had retaliated against their attacks with their own, but neither Gajeel nor Erza seemed concerned about the damage that their characters had received.

Natsu was up again next and he wasted no time in moving his character defensively in front of Luna.

"Protecting your pet healer, Salamander?" Gajeel taunted with a smug expression as Natsu ignored his comment, "You ought to watch your own health instead of relyin' on her for healing, you're just a puny sorcerer."

Natsu, not making eye contact with Gajeel, flipped him the bird with one hand whilst he quickly read the back of his spell sheet, giving Lucy a small glimpse of his messily handwritten notes that detailed what each of his spells did.

"Fire Dragon's Breath!" Natsu practically yelled out a second later, pointing to the three approaching bandits near Luna that were in the range of his spell and would each have to roll a dexterity check to attempt to avoid some of the incoming damage.

"You don't have to suddenly announce your spells so loudly man, sheesh…" Gray practically sighed, and started rolling for each bandit but not revealing which of them took the full force of Salamander's spell. Natsu rolled his damage, scoring an 'okay' amount but not killing any of the bandits either.

Gajeel makes another melee attack on his same target again, this time killing it.

Lucy had planned to move her character away from the encroaching bandits but with Natsu's character now defensively standing in front of hers, it now felt just plain wrong to abandon him to the bandits that would inevitably attack his character instead.

Forgoing doing any damage, she went for the tactical choice of using her Entangle spell in an attempt still the bandit's advance. She wouldn't know if it worked until their turn would come around with Gray making additional hidden dice rolls to determine the outcome.

Titania also finished her target much to Erza's glee, which left four remaining bandits on the map.

Gray began rolling for the bandits once again, his cool exterior giving no hint as to whether he was enjoying playing the role of the group's enemies.

To Lucy's relief, two of the bandits were rooted on the spot by her Entangle spell, having failed their own checks to escape it, leaving just one bandit close enough to get to Salamander and attacking him, but like the others, Natsu seemed unconcerned about the health loss. If Lucy had to bet on it, she would say he might be expecting a heal from her if things got serious.

The one bandit that was much further back that had avoided both the Dragon's Breath and Entangle continued his assault on Luna, once again aiming his bow and firing another successful shot and causing Lucy's character to take further damage. The concern in Lucy's eyes was evident as she wondered what would happen if she ran out of health and well, died? She hadn't read up on what happens in the event of that.

Natsu prepared to take his turn again and everyone looked at inquisitively when they had been expecting him to continue his breath attack but instead, found him looking at his spell list again. Seconds passed and Natsu had yet to make his move.

"Natsu?" Gray inquired, peering past his screen to observe the pink-haired man's actions.

"Get on with it already, Salamander," Gajeel grunted, crossing his arms and slopping back into his chair in impatience.

A small smile crept across Natsu's face however as he looked over at the map and then back at the spell he had been reading the details of. Lucy found herself fidgeting uncomfortably at whatever plan he had decided on if that look on his face revealed anything. He had a tendency to be reckless.

"Aganazzar's Scorcher!" Natsu yelled out in a similar fashion to how he shouted out his previous spell, the digits of his fingers pointing at the direction he was planning to aim the spell on the map.

Gray rolled his eyes, "Are you gonna yell out the name of all your spells like that? It's kinda annoying."

"Whatever, frost nips, it feels good to say it!" Natsu retorted, taking his dice eagerly into his hand and awaiting Gray's response to his planned action.

Gray was familiar with the spell; Natsu had used it before and from the direction he was indicating on the board, he intended to aim it at both his attacker, through one of the snared bandits and all the way to the ranged attacker that had been aiming for Luna. The spell itself was essentially a long line of fire that was more than capable of doing a lot of damage.

"Alright, roll damage then," Gray stated, rolling his own dice as he did so to determine if his bandits would take the full brunt of the spell. "… Shit." He cursed under his breath a second later, causing a wide grin to creep across Natsu's face at Gray's blatantly obvious poor dice rolls.

Gajeel grunted in assumed approval whereas Erza nodded towards their fire mage. Lucy could only assume that Natsu was about to cause some serious damage.

Without wasting a second more, Natsu began rolling his dice. First a 6, then a 7 and finally a 5.

Gajeel let out a whistle as Gray looked on, thoroughly annoyed. It only took Lucy a moment to calculate the total (math had never really been an issue for her during her tutoring) to know that the total score was 18, quite a high number that would be hitting the three targets.

Natsu began laughing, almost manically,  
"FUCK YEAH!" He practically screamed as Gray groaned, standing up to unceremoniously remove the three bandits from the board, signifying that they had perished instantly.

"You rolled well Natsu, I'm glad," Erza said with a hint of pride in her voice. "That could have gone badly if you didn't."

"There's still a bandit left," Gajeel stated. "So, I'm gonna move Metalicana here and try and finish it with another sword to the face."

Luckily, Gajeel had the sense to avoid Luna's Entangle spell which was still active, placing his character to the edge of its radius but was also within distance of hitting his target. The bandit had already been damaged previously by Salamander's Dragon's Breath spell so it was easy to finish off with his successful hit.

With that, the combat ended and Lucy took the opportunity to heal herself, just in case their party came across anything else during their travel.

"What's with you using your strongest spells, Salamander?" Gajeel asked. "You could have taken 'em with a weaker spell and we still gotta long way to go."

Natsu didn't wait to give his reply, "The one with the bow kept goin' for Luna, had to stop it."

Lucy gulped nervously, a faint blush encompassing her cheeks. She had no idea why Natsu had this effect on her whenever he spoke of protecting her in some form or another but she was found it darn right… embarrassing? No that didn't really describe it…

"You didn't do that for me last week!" Gajeel yelled with clear aggravation.

"Yeah, 'cause you're not Lucy," Natsu bluntly retorted. Lucy felt herself slinking back into her seat, wishing she had a scarf like Natsu's to partially hide her face at that very moment in time. She could see that Erza was watching her reaction and the woman looked as if she were barely holding in a chuckle. If nothing else, Lucy at least felt honored that Natsu wanted to protect her character.

Gray tried to get them both to shut up so he could continue his session but of course, that had little success until Erza spoke up with threats of throttling them and the two Draconic based players quickly stopped bickering.

As Gray continued with describing their journey, Lucy's focus was once again broken by Natsu, calmly holding out his bag of chips to her, offering her the choice of taking some of the contents. She didn't hesitate in taking a small handful although quickly regretted it when she realized they were much spicier than she had been prepared for.

* * *

The party was arriving in a new village when something entirely unexpected happened outside of the game that Lucy had no way of foreseeing at all.

Gray had been midway through describing the nearest buildings of the village when his words wound down to becoming inaudible before they trailed off entirely, leaving the group to crane their necks in his direction in their confusion.

His gaze had turned from his dungeon master screen and notes to the shop window. Lucy, unable to stop herself, twisted in her chair to get a glimpse of what had caught the dungeon master's attention.

It was none other than a woman with waves of silky-looking, blue curls of hair and a bewildered expression on her face with hands pressed up against the shop window, staring directly at them all. Her wide blue eyes soon transfixed on Lucy herself and she felt as if the woman was about to come at with all the wrath of Erza if such a thing were possible.

Unable to hold the woman's stare any longer, Lucy abruptly turned back to the game to see Erza sighing, flicking her long red hair back as if she knew exactly what was coming. In fact, Gajeel and Natsu held similar expressions. The woman was known to them and this wasn't the first time of her doing well, _something_.

"Shit," Gray softly spoke, his hands were already rapidly moving from behind his screen as Lucy heard paper and books being closed. He looked away from the strange woman and quickly looked to the redhead sitting on his right, "… Erza, will you?"

"Yes, I'll collect everything up. Go do what you need to do," Erza answered sincerely, already getting up from her seat.

"Tch. Not this again," Gajeel commented as he too took his character sheet and folded it away into his leather jacket.

Hoping for an answer as to what was happening, Lucy looked to Natsu who had yet to move as well as looking annoyed beyond words. "Why today…" She caught him muttering to himself.

Lucy felt Gray brush against the back of her chair as he swiftly moved passed them, curiously leaving his screen, notes and dice behind and Lucy looked over to see that he was making for the door. Of course, the aisles blocked a clear of the exit from where she sat and she had no intention of being a busy body and getting up to spy on what Gray was doing despite _really_ wanting to know.

The bell rang and luckily (or maybe not so luckily in hindsight), Lucy was able to hear both Gray and the woman speaking to each other, although briefly.

"Juvia, you said you wouldn't-"

"Juvia wishes to know who that woman is!"

"She's new, Natsu invite-"

"Is she a love rival?"

"Ugh – outside, now."

The bell rang once again and Lucy heard footsteps leaving the store.

Gajeel caught Lucy's attention when he started laughing before Erza snapped at him. She had been in the midst of gathering Gray's things together at the end of the table. "It's not funny! Things were just starting getting better and we had hoped to leave things a bit longer before we told her about Lucy!"

Lucy sat up with a gasp, unable to prevent herself from jumping to the conclusion that she had yet again caused trouble for everyone. This caught everyone's attention, Gajeel with a fed-up sigh, reacting the fastest by reaching for his packet of cigarettes in his jacket, "Goin' for a smoke, back in a bit."

"You didn't do anything wrong, Lucy," Erza cut in as she folded away Gray's screen. "That woman you saw is… a bit of a special case."

"Yeah, she likes Gray of all people- that's pretty damn special," Natsu commented grumpily.

"Natsu, I won't tolerate you being rude to her," Erza sternly answered him, although with none of the fierceness she usually exerted. Instead, the redhead turned to Lucy who was looking more and more at a loss of what to do. Clearly, the game was over for the evening and they were only a few hours in yet she didn't feel ready to say goodbye to her newest friends for the week just yet.

Looking over at Natsu, she figured he might be feeling the same way as he had made no attempt to pack away his belongings either and he still had several snacks unopened.

"… So, who was she?" Lucy finally asked, wanting at least some explanation as to why their evening at come to an abrupt halt.

Erza let out a small sigh as her expression settled into one of contemplation.

"She's-"

"She's Gray's weird girlfriend," Natsu interjected with none of his usual humor.

" _Sort of,_ " Erza said, correcting his statement.

Lucy felt none the wiser by any of that. "So why did she?" She began to ask.

"Juvia really is a nice girl, lovely in fact. But she has… issues." Erza tried to explain with a small huff of frustration in the last word. "Gray cares about her but sometimes he has a difficult time being patient with her."

Lucy really wanted to ask what kind of issues but she felt that was wildly inappropriate. It wasn't Erza's nor Natsu's choice to divulge that sort of information to her, especially if Juvia was a friend of theirs.

"Is Gray not coming back?" She chose to ask instead.

"It's unlikely," Erza sadly answered, having neatly collected all of Gray's D&D belongings together in a tidy pile on the table.

The table took on an awkward silence, the previous cheerful atmosphere now stifled. Lucy was looking forward to exploring the town that Gray had described and trying her hand at roleplay again. Combat was fun but she wanted to put some of her character's backstory to use. She peered down at her dice. _'There's always next week…'_

"Y'know… it's been a while since we all hung out in the games room." Natsu finally spoke, his face lightening up at the thought. "Movie night?" He then asked with wide eyes and an eager smile at the two remaining women.

"Games room?" Lucy echoed.

"Hmm, that isn't a bad idea." Erza replied, sounding pleased by the thought as she packed away her own items, "Let me put all of this away in my car and I will ask Gajeel if he would like to attend as well."

Lucy looked to Natsu and while she was keen to spend more time with everyone, a movie night hadn't been what she had expected her evening to turn into.

Growing up, she had rarely seen many movies – her mother preferred to read to her when she was young and her father choosing outings to the theater over watching films. The only television in the manor often went unused and Lucy recalled all the times her father scolded her for sneaking off to watch cartoons in her childhood, insisting she had better things to do with her time instead.

It wasn't until she finally felt freedom in Magnolia that Cana and Loke were able to introduce her to what she had missed out on. Needless to say, she must have come across as some sort of strange alien to them as their first movie together as she engaged in the new medium of entertainment in her life.

"So, you up for it then, Lucy? A movie?" Natsu once again asked her, nudging her arm as he grew impatient for a response.

"Uh, yeah, … sure," Lucy mumbled out, finally putting away her character sheet, new dice and notes. Natsu, with no concern for keeping his belongings tidy, roughly threw his things into his rucksack as his energetic personality sparked back to life with a new evening plan in mind. Lucy had to admit she liked it when she saw him like that, as if he was a literal, boundless source of life and energy that could liven up any room in the pinch of an eye.

"Where is the games room?" Lucy felt the need to ask, her eyes darting around the store but seeing no obvious areas where a whole other room could be hiding.

Natsu wasted no time in pointing it out to her, a door next to the counter which Lucy had assumed was a stock room. "It goes to a room in the basement. Us regulars can use however much we want."

Once everything was put away and Natsu had gathered up his snacks, Gajeel and Erza had rejoined them.

"I hear we're gonna watch a movie?" Gajeel asked all too keenly despite his best attempts to hide it.

"Yep, that's the plan, metal mouth," Natsu answered him cheerfully.

"As long as it ain't one of her-" Gajeel spoke, pointing to Erza, "-sappy romance movies, I'm down for it."

"Hell no! I want something with action!" Natsu replied exasperatedly.

"We've watched most of 'em already, genius."

"Ahem," Erza spoke up, silencing the two men as Lucy watched on, admiring Erza's ability to command a room. "I suggest we let Lucy pick something."

"What, no!" Lucy retorted, not wanting to get involved in the argument in the slightest. "I'm okay with anything you guys pick!" Anything would be fine… except maybe a horror film.

Erza shrugged at her response. "Fine, let us go see what is available and then we can decide."

The group made their way to the mysterious door that Lucy had yet to see anyone enter, Erza leading the way followed by Gajeel and then Natsu, who had only just managed to not drop all of his food as he walked. Lucy followed behind, ready to pick up any runaway chip packets. Her curiosity leaped to new heights as she discovered that there was an iron, spiral staircase leading down awaiting her on the other side of the door.

She only had to collect two fallen snacks on the way down, Natsu thanking her when they reached the bottom as she piled them back into arms. It was only then that she was able to take in the full view of the so-called 'games room'.

Before her, the room was smaller than she had expected, with small basement windows limiting the amount of street lighting intruding into the space. Fairy lights had been hung around the top of the black-painted walls, making the room feel cozy but also lightening the room well enough to see. Posters of what Lucy assumed were movies and video games littered much of the wall space but what caught her attention was the furnishing.

A worn, leathery-looking couch sat in the middle of the room facing a large wall-mounted TV, two comfy-looking, mismatched armchairs sat either side with a coffee table sitting inbetween them. The TV had at least two or three consoles with a multitude of wires hanging loosely, sitting on an oldish table underneath the setup. What captured Lucy's interest was the single bookcase in the corner that seemed to be accustomed to holding a bit of everything – books, blankets, board games, random figurines.

This was a room reminiscent of how a teenager might have decorated their own bedroom with a larger budget behind it although the fairy lights gave it a more feminine touch.

Erza and Gajeel, having been the first ones down had already taken the armchairs for themselves with Gajeel shamelessly placing his feet on the coffee table. This didn't seem to bother Natsu who moved to the sofa, scattering his snacks across the table, leaving Lucy to take the single space left to sit beside him.

Lucy discovered that couch was actually rather comfortable despite how used it looked and she felt herself almost being swallowed up by it. It would have been tempting to ask if she would be allowed to bring and read her books here if she hadn't been convinced that she wouldn't resist eventually fall asleep on it.

"Shall we see what's on Netflix first?" Erza asked, TV remote in hand.

Lucy didn't own a TV, much less have much experience watching one, but she wasn't that out of the loop that she didn't know what streaming services were.

Natsu and Gajeel grumbled in response as the TV flickered on and Erza selected the account 'Strauss Games' to begin browsing.

It didn't take long before the bickering started up again over movie choices – either because they had seen it already or because they had very different tastes in what was being offered. Lucy quite frankly, found it exhausting to listen to. She had no idea how these two guys were ever friends – it was if they were two angry male cats, arguing over territory – heck, describing them as cats didn't feel right either; they were something much more ferocious than that.

"That one! I haven't seen that yet!" Gajeel was quick to point out as Erza hovered over one particular choice.

"That?! No way!" Natsu snapped back in disbelief, his eyes turning to plead when Erza didn't immediately move on from selected choice. Lucy swore she could feel Natsu get warmer in his annoyance somehow, as she sat beside him although without any physical contact.

"Hmmm…" Erza pondered as she read the description. "It's a musical… and it mentions a stage and I certainly have an appreciation for the world of acting." She said with a sparkle in her eye. Lucy even caught the tags with 'romance' mentioned as one of them. There was no doubt, this is what they would be watching.

Natsu groaned audibly but Lucy was more surprised that Gajeel, clearly an imposing man that was some sort of biker, wanted to watch a musical. A musical! She considered that as he chose to play a bard in their campaign that maybe it shouldn't have been that surprising but well… obviously she had done what she had tried not to do in life and judge a book by its cover.

Lucy felt Natsu softly elbow her as he looked to her with pleading eyes. "Say something, Lucy, we don't wanna watch this!" he desperately but quietly asked.

A quick look at Erza and her perked, determined interest definitely put Lucy in no mood to disagree with the fiery redhead on her choice of movie. "I'm sorry Natsu," she whispered back. "I'm not gonna anger the great Erza on this one."

The anguish on Natsu's face was evident but he stopped with his protests, sinking back into couch whilst simultaneously grabbing a bag of bacon-flavoured chips from the table and looking thoroughly betrayed by his friends. Lucy felt a little bad for him, maybe even a little guilty at her cowardliness to speak up – this had been Natsu's idea to watch a movie in the first place. She wasn't even that keen to watch the movie being offered either but she still felt that she had been partially to blame for D&D ending so soon, even if it was out of her control.

The movie started and to be fair to it, it was not what Lucy had expected in the slightest. In fact, it was fairly entertaining so far. Erza looked quite taken by the performances and Gajeel seemed to bob his head along with each of the songs that were being sung, snapping his fingers to the various beats.

Natsu looked… bored. On occasion, he had laughed a little but once the romantic elements kicked in, he seemed to lose interest entirely. To be fair, nothing about the man screamed he was the romantic type in the slightest – then again, Lucy hadn't expected Gajeel to watch musicals either. Therefore, maybe Natsu could surprise her yet. For what he lacked in romance, he definitely seemed the caring type and somewhat protective. He would certainly make a very cute boyf-

Lucy very, _very_ quickly caught herself on her escalating trail of thoughts and was quickly asking herself why she was even thinking about what Natsu's love life might look like.

It was made so much worse when Natsu in his blatantly bored state, craned his neck to look at her, catching onto the fact that she had been staring at him.

He cocked his head in confusion at her and Lucy needed an excuse, _fast_.

She wasted no time in grabbing a random bag of one his snacks from the table – a bag of gummy worms in turns out – and holding it up as if to ask silently for permission to help herself. She wasn't even that hungry, she had made sure to give herself a large serving of pasta before she had left her apartment that afternoon.

Natsu caught on to her gesture and leaned over to whisper into her ear and Lucy was reminded that he was not only warm – he was toasty – like a small crackling fire.

"… Save me some of the red-yellow ones," he whispered and Lucy barely held back a shudder when she felt his breath against her ear. She was seriously wondering what was up with her that evening – was she getting sick?

He pulled back and went back to watching the movie, idling popping his own candy into his mouth with his bored expression returning as he leaned on the armrest of the sofa.

Lucy tried to quietly open the packet she had grabbed with little success, but the noise didn't seem to disturb the two enthralled musical lovers. She nibbled on a few of the sweets, not really enjoying them that much but she had committed to it now, although leaving the red-yellow ones as Natsu requested. After a while, she handed the packet to Natsu who eagerly took it, smiling when his obvious favorites had been left for him.

Before long, the comfiness of the couch was beginning to really have an effect on Lucy, combined with the heat that Natsu seemed to be exerting beside her and as a result, her eyes were slowly closing. The movie was okay but she couldn't deny that she was getting more and more drowsy.

It was only later, when the sounds of the movie had seized entirely and replaced by the sounds of quiet snickering from the two armchair-hogging companions that Lucy realized that she had actually fallen asleep at some point. She was jolted from her sleepy haziness to being suddenly awake by an unexpected but relatively gentle prod in her arm.

Her eyes connected with Erza's who was kneeling in front of her with an odd curl on lips, Gajeel stood behind her, his arms crossed but with an equally strange grin with a couple of 'gihi''s thrown in.

It was too bad they had woken her up, Lucy was actually quite comfy and warm where she was, the armrest providing adequate support for her arms and head as she leaned against it and she would have welcomed some more sleep for a little longer. Her side was particularly warm and within a couple of seconds of looking for the cause, it became glaringly obvious why that was.

She hadn't been the only one to fall asleep – as a matter of fact, Natsu clearly had too and at some point, slumped over and was laying against her side, his head lying with a peaceful expression just above her hip. Lucy had to admit, it would have been _almost_ cute if wasn't for the fact that he was also drooling too.

The muffled snickers from her two, very awake friends now suddenly made a lot of sense.

"He looks comfortable," Erza quietly commented.

Without thinking, Lucy tried to maneuver herself forwards, hoping it might nudge the dozing man awake but he merely sighed a little too contently in his sleep as a response, earning yet more snickering from the two watching them.

 _Right, screw trying to be gentle!_ Lucy jolted up from where she was sitting, startling Erza who stumbled slightly but easily catching herself. Natsu's head dropped to the couch with a thud, causing him to let out a small yelp in surprise at the sudden movement as he blinked himself awake.

"S'over?" He mumbled a few seconds, turning obliviously towards the rest of them with Lucy desperately trying to hide her blush.

"Yeah, it's over Salamander," Gajeel grunted. "But I don't think Blondie appreciates you using her as a pillow."

"Eh?"

Ignoring Natsu's confusion, Erza was checking her watch. "It's late. Lucy, let me take you home," she announced, nudging the blonde with her elbow.

Lucy didn't protest, eagerly following Erza out of the basement with barely a small goodbye leaving her lips. She wasn't even sure why she felt so awkward but for whatever reason, she did regardless.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I got a bit distracted by a FFXIV patch release for a while so I apologise if this chapter seems a little 'off' to anyone.
> 
> The main D&D quest sounds rather simplistic no? Don't worry, there is definitely more to it, give Gray some credit! I guess you'll have to wait and see how that unfolds later ;)
> 
> Next chapter will be a bit shorter with a little look into Lucy's past. Not sure when I will get it out, my SO finally has some time off work over the next couple of weeks so I will probably be more preoccupied than normal.


	7. In Preparation

**Tuesday Evening, August 25th**

The cyan LED lighting of Gray's PC rig provided a gentle hue that left the dungeon master feeling a lot calmer as he sat at his desk, typing away in a word document of his upcoming plans for his ever keen players. His handwritten notes, once dropped off by Erza yesterday morning, were sitting neatly to his side, he had already typed up all the relevant information onto his computer.

His plans were currently over twenty pages long in length with various details of all the key characters and enemies he had planned to introduce along with some side content in case any of them chose to stray from the main quest (a certain annoying pink-haired nuisance came to mind).

Gray had given his campaign a lot of thought from the moment that they had all gained the Saturday slot at Strauss Games, taking over from a group called 'Twilight Ogre'. Gaining that Saturday was a blessing; he was tired of hosting the game at his place. It was cramped, Erza complained about the AC being too cold, Gajeel kept banging on the exposed industrial pipes in his lounge and Natsu helped himself to his food when he wasn't looking. Only Zeref was even remotely tolerable in his home and Gray still found it hard to believe that he was related to Natsu in any shape or form.

However, when Zeref had abruptly decided that he would no longer be playing, despite the short time that it was, it had thrown a spanner in Gray's campaign plans. Luckily for him and not too long after Lucy had randomly joined their group, Gray discovered that he could use Zeref's leaving to his advantage. That thought alone brought on a devious smile to the dungeon master as typed up the last of his notes regarding the quest he had set forth for his group.

His planning, however, was interrupted by what he thought of as a siren's voice – a very pretty, blue-haired siren, "… Gray."

Gray let out a soft sigh. He had managed a good fifteen minutes of quiet to write and plot. He wasn't annoyed so much as he was frustrated.

Behind him sat someone he cared deeply about, not that he would admit that to anyone but the person in question. It felt dangerous to demonstrate his feelings openly as if something bad would happen from whatever fleeting happiness would dare enter his life. The former guardian in his life was evidence of that happening already.

However, that evening, the blue-haired woman behind him who was generally patient and considerate enough to let him finish what his planning before commanding his attention was struggling to do just that. As he had expected, her own problems with trust had resurfaced when he first told her about Lucy one week ago. He didn't think she'd show up to their game and in hindsight, he was an idiot to think she wouldn't.

"I'm nearly finished Juvia, just give me a few more minutes, alright?" He asked as he scanned the notes he had typed up, checking for anything he may have missed out for his upcoming session that week.

"But Juvia wishes to know more about Lucy," she answered, the unease in her voice apparent.

Gray let out another frustrated sigh, "I've already told you everything."

Last Saturday, after Juvia had frantically approached him with all the worry and concern in her eyes at the front entrance at Strauss Games, he had taken a good hour to calm her down away from the store. It wasn't the first time he had to do it and he doubted it would be the last. Sometimes it felt like she would never get past the demons that plagued her mind and all he could do was reassure her as well as demonstrate that she could trust him.

Of course, what he thought Juvia really needed was to overcome them by conquering her demon herself and that, unfortunately, took time. It wasn't her fault as to what had happened to her all those years ago. It wasn't her fault that she had trouble trusting people – particularly men after what that asshole Bora had gone and done.

"But Lucy sits near Gray so closely!" Juvia blurted out, her small hands balling into little frustrated fists.

"And I told you, she's just sitting where Zeref used to sit. I don't think she's interested-"

"Gray only thinks?" Juvia cut in, her eyes wide at the thought that Lucy may not be entirely innocent in her choice of seating position.

Gray groaned at his wrong choice of wording. Juvia didn't do well with 'maybes' or 'ifs' or anything that wasn't an absolute. Her mind would jump hoops and draw conclusions to the worst, most paranoid conclusions there were. It was enough to drive anyone mad. It pained him to see her like this – he missed the moments when she was secure in herself and the others around her.

He swore if he ever saw Bora again, the bastard that he was; he would be answering to him personally and it wouldn't be pretty. Juvia deserved better than his lies.

"She's not a threat Juvia. Seriously, she's not." Gray reaffirmed, "If anything, I would say that fire clown has some kind of a thing for her from the crazy way he's behaving lately…" If such a thing were even possible. He'd been blissfully ignorant of Lisanna's flirting so who the hell knew.

This seemed to still the teary-eyed woman, her gaze dropping downwards to her lap in contemplation as she folded her palms away.

Gray took the sudden quiet as an opportunity to finish reading over his notes before he could finally give Juvia is full attention. He had promised her a movie night, knowing that she would be happily content with popcorn, ice cream and some reassurance from him that this wouldn't be the last time they would spend time together.

Was Juvia his girlfriend? Sometimes maybe – their relationship was strained at best. They weren't dating nor were they interested in seeing anyone else. Being in something committed made things worse for her somehow; setting the paranoia leaping into overdrive. They didn't have a label for whatever they had right now and it strangely worked for them as Juvia slowly worked on overcoming her problems.

A few minutes passed and Gray was just saving and backing up his work when Juvia spoke up again, "Juvia… wishes to play too."

Gray had been expecting this. Honestly, he would have liked for Juvia to play in his campaign as long as she knew he wouldn't be favoring her over the others. The dice decided how things would play out and he couldn't promise her special perks because they were well… a something. But ultimately, he believed she would enjoy it and the company of others would be good for her. There was just the small problem of knowing whether she wanted to play for the right or wrong reasons.

"Do you want to play Juvia? Or do you just want to keep an eye on Lucy?" He asked, turning again to face her with a serious expression.

Juvia paused as her fingers twitched with nervousness. It was clear that she wasn't sure.

Before he could discuss it any further with her, Gray's phone chirped and buzzed, distracting him entirely. That particular noise from his phone signaled that someone was posting messages in the D&D group chat – he hoped it wasn't something that would lead to another canceled session.

 **Lucy:** _How do I PM someone? I need to send my backstory to Gray._

Gray nodded in the realization that he had almost forgotten all about that. He had asked Lucy a while ago for a copy of her character's details so he could plan an appropriate story arc for her character. It seems Lucy wasn't a natural when it came to using technology.

His phone pinged again before he could respond.

 **Natsu:** _jus tap on ice pricks nam and tap pm to snd somethin_

Gray had to take a moment to read through Natsu's abysmal spelling – he wasn't even sure if he knew how to spell or was just lazy when it came to making himself coherent.

 **Lucy:** _Okay, thanks Natsu!_

It seems as though Lucy had little issue with understanding him though. Go figure, those two were quickly turning to two peas in a pod.

Gray looked back to Juvia who was watching him with curiosity. He already knew what that look meant. He got up to go sit beside her on his small sofa, maintaining enough distance between them to preserve his own personal space.

Gray held out his phone to Juvia, allowing her to see the exchange in the group chat; her face already softening as the tension in her dropped at the viewing of a purely innocent conversation.

Before he pulled his phone away from Juvia's sight, it pinged again with Lucy's name bouncing up on the screen – a short private message with an attachment. Juvia's eyes widened and Gray already knew that those dangerous cogs of hers were turning once again.

He wasted little time in opening the private message and showing it to her.

 **Lucy:** _Hi Gray. I've attached my character sheet and notes, hope it's alright. Let me know if you need me to change anything._

"Can Juvia see what Lucy sent?" The blue-haired woman asked without hesitating.

"If you seriously want to play with my group, then you know you can't read her backstory," Gray answered honestly, leaving the woman looking conflicted about her options.

Gray tapped out a reply to the blonde as Juvia contemplated her choices.

 **Gray:** _Thanks, will get back to u soon_

He would read what Lucy's character's backstory was all about later. He already a few ideas of what to do for it.

He looked back to Juvia when he felt her moving away from him; her leaving the sofa to go to the kitchenette and pour herself a glass of water. She was fidgeting – a clear sign something was up.

"Juvia has a confession to make," she suddenly announced after gulping down a mouthful of the plain liquid.

Now he was curious although his cold exterior revealed nothing obvious to the woman.

"Juvia… was asked if-" She spoke gently, pausing as her lips contorted into something of unease and anxiety, "-if she would like to play in the same group as Lyon."

That was enough to have Gray feeling suddenly on edge. His foster brother made it no secret that he harbored some affection for Juvia and it bothered him… a lot. He wasn't even convinced it was genuine affection – that it was just another way for Lyon to one-up him in some way. He always had to prove something to everyone one; not that it even matters with Ur in her current-

No, he wasn't going to go there. Sunday was the day for that.

The current evening was for planning and spending some time with the woman who needed a gentle reminder that he was someone that could be trusted.

Begrudgingly, he had no right to tell Juvia who she shouldn't spend time with – even if were to be Lyon.

"If you really want to play with… _him_ … I can't stop you." Gray quietly answered as he struggled to keep eye contact with her doe-like blue eyes.

Juvia wasted no time in dashing forwards, grasping his hands into hers much to his shock and maybe a little bit of horror at the sudden physical contact, "Juvia wishes to play with Gray. Juvia thinks…"

Gray had no doubt that Juvia wanted to find the right words to demonstrate she wouldn't overreact to Lucy's presence again. If only Lucy had been just as threatening as Erza, this might not have ever been an issue to begin with but Natsu, like the idiot that he was, just had to ask the prettiest woman in the store at the time when they needed another player. For all he knew, maybe Natsu wasn't even oblivious to that little fact and wasn't as half as dense as he presumed he was.

"Juvia trusts Gray," she finally spoke, not saying anything further on Lucy. Perhaps it was asking too much that she could dismiss Lucy as a threat without even speaking to her first.

Reluctant to say no her, Gray resigned himself. He hoped there wouldn't be any drama – he'd do his best in getting Juvia to promise not to overreact.

"… I'll think of how you could join the group," Gray told her, the relief of hearing that causing Juvia to relinquish her grasp on his hands. "But I'll have to run it by everyone else first." He added.

It wasn't fair to just invite extra players whenever he felt like it – the game was there for everyone's enjoyment after all. Lucy had been an exception thanks to Natsu as well as completely unexpected. He was glad to admit it was working out – she was turning out to be a much better player than he would have ever anticipated from first glance.

His phone pinged once more; another message in the group chat.

Juvia took her place back beside him on the couch, her paranoia rearing its ugly head once more as she failed to hide her interest in seeing who the sender of the latest message was.

Gray held it out, knowing that it too was just as harmless as the last message, so she could read it and her paranoia left as quickly as it came.

 **Erza:** _Dear Gray, Natsu, Gajeel and Lucy. I have an unexpected visitor arriving this weekend and as such, will be unavailable to play this coming Saturday. However, it has come to my understanding that Sabertooth will not be playing_ _in_ _their usual Friday evening s_ _lot_ _and_ _we should have no problems asking Mirajane to take their place for this week only._ _If y_ _ou all find that_ _tolerable, I suggest we consider that option for our upcoming game this weekend. Sincerely, Erza._

"Does Erza always sends messages as letters?" Juvia asked, surprised at Erza's formal choice of wording.

"Yeah, it's bizarre. I'd hate to see her write an angry letter," Gray replied, clearly used to these sorts of messages from the redhead.

Erza however, did have a good solution do the problem she had also presented. He wasn't a fan of playing a session without her; things often descended into chaos between the three remaining males without her stern presence to steer away from the often escalating situations that arose. They never fought seriously but they would never get anything done during those games either.

"Would you be able to play on Friday, Juvia?" Gray asked the bluenette beside him. It was sudden but it only seemed polite to ask if she was truly serious about joining them. He doubted anyone would protest against her playing with them.

She let out a small disappointed sigh. "No, Juvia has swim practice," she answered solemnly. "But Juvia would like to meet Gray afterwards."

If Juvia had one thing going well for her, it was her scholarship as an athlete – currently training for the regional swimming championships in a couple of months time. When Gray couldn't calm her down, being in the water seemed to the trick instead.

Feeling that D&D had taken up enough of his time that evening, Gray put his mind to spending the rest of the time with the woman beside him. He would have time to work out the details of her potential character and story at a later point. A movie and ice cream would do them both some good.

Another ping on his phone in group chat – he decided to check it one final time before putting his phone away for the rest of the night.

 **Natsu:** _yea friday is gud. also thinkin_ _g_ _of multiclasing_ _Gray_ _?_

Natsu wanting to multiclass? Yeah, that didn't surprise him. He had doubts that the guy wouldn't be satisfied with just throwing spells out with next to no melee abilities to back him up. He would deal with the pyro later however, he had better things to do right now.

* * *

**Wednesday Morning, August 26th**

"Salamander!"

Natsu groaned at the barking sound of Gajeel's gruff voice calling him out over the machines and noise on the floor of his workshop. It was the fourth time that morning and it had Natsu questioning all over again why he worked here in the first place.

Oh yeah, it was because he needed an income and Gajeel owed him one.

The job wasn't so bad although Gajeel was certainly more into it than he was. He apprenticed under Gajeel's boss after he'd left school and whilst the science behind it was not so interesting, the welding process itself satisfied a certain appreciation for fire that he was sure he'd been born with.

"Have you sorted that shipment of filler metal yet?" Gajeel yelled out from across the shop, the man himself appeared to be carrying some bulky packages of his own.

"I'll get to it soon." Natsu glumly answered. He was bored already, it was still only morning and Gajeel was wanting him to unpack shipments of materials.

A loud thud was heard from Gajeel's direction and before long, the dark-haired man had wandered over in his apron, his hair tied back and Natsu kind of wanted to tick him off a little just to make things a bit more interesting around here.

"So in D&D…" Gajeel remarked as he went to lean against a nearby workbench.

Gajeel wanted to talk D&D? Never mind pissing him off for now then.

"… do you think Gray is really gonna have us fight a dragon?" Gajeel asked confidently, almost relishing in the idea as much as Natsu was.

"He'd better! I can't wait to fight a dragon! I bet it's gonna be white dragon knowing him," Natsu replied enthusiastically, stopping what he was doing and smashing his fist into his palm with unrepentant eagerness.

Gajeel raised an uneasy eyebrow at his underling. "Eh? And what you makes you so sure?"

Natsu scoffed a little at his sentence before answering. "They're basically ice dragons. It's obvious that's what ice stripper is gonna use."

"Tch, nah," Gajeel waved him off smugly. "If that guy has any smarts about him, it's gonna be a dragon that's immune to fire – just to piss off your sorry ass of course."

Natsu almost recoiled at the thought. He hadn't thought of that. He wouldn't put it past Gray to pull something like that either.

"Ain't that why you were asking about multiclassing last night?" Gajeel asked although he already knew his answer from their conversation so far that Natsu had not thought that far ahead in the slightest.

"Nah, I wanted to multiclass so I wouldn't be so damn squishy," Natsu admitted. "But we're not close to leveling yet so it'll be a while…"

Gajeel had actually been thinking about multiclassing his character at some point too – playing songs was well and good but he wanted some other options too. "Well, what did you wanna multiclass as? I've seen your stats, can't be that many choices," he asked Natsu, genuinely interested at this point.

"Was thinking a warrior or something – like Erza," he answered.

"Gihi," Gajeel half-snorted, half-chuckled. "Why not a barbarian? Suits a reckless loudmouth like you better."

"Shaddup ya bastard, I couldn't even use spells properly as that," Natsu bellowed back, rapidly losing his patience. They could work together, be cordial and play D&D but that's normally as far as socializing went between them.

"Watch yourself, I'm still your superior here," Gajeel reminded him, taking a little too much pleasure from saying those words for Natsu's liking.

"Whatever," Natsu had already lost interest in this conversation with Gajeel at this point. His phone had just sounded an alert in his back pocket and he'd decided to entertain himself with whatever spam it spewed out this time instead of letting Gajeel goad him.

His eyes lit up when it was instead a message informing him that a package had been dropped off at his mailbox. It was enough to get him a little less bored and fed up of Gajeel as he could now look forward to working on his surprise for Lucy when he got home later that day.

It wasn't much but he'd figured she'd like it and feel more a part of their group once he gave her it. He could tell she didn't realize it yet but she was proving to be a great addition to their team. Before her, they had bickered a lot more and Zeref had always been the voice of reason and logic – although he was often kind of cold in his approach – their first couple of character levels that they earned didn't feel as rewarding as it should have.

Lucy made things a bit more balanced and she was damn smart when it came to solving traps and puzzles – he loved seeing Gray get annoyed whenever she thwarted whatever sadistic scheme he had cooked up for their characters.

It would feel weird if Lucy stopped playing with them now and he was gonna make sure she knew she was one of them now.

* * *

**Wednesday Afternoon, August 26th**

The coffee place in Magnolia's central shopping district was Lucy's favorite place to meet friends. When she says friends, what she really means is 'Loke'. Cana would always insist on a place that sold something alcoholic and Levy had yet to spend any physical time with her in Magnolia herself.

One day, she hoped that could be a time where perhaps even Erza would want to chat over coffee with her when all her female friends would be present. They'd order drinks, cakes and just generally have girl talk. Heck, maybe one day she could convince Natsu to hang out and drink coffee with her. Imagining Natsu sitting still and quiet and engaging in polite conversation in a coffee house was wholly unbelievable however.

On this day, she was strictly meeting Loke as a pair of friends despite his flirtation that accompanied his asking earlier in the week. They hadn't really spoken since his party aside from the few messages sent back and forth and today seemed as good a time as any to talk.

With payday only two days away and her freezer compartment at home packed with vegetables and tubs of her homemade soups, Lucy was confident in her financial situation enough to order something other than plain black coffee or tea. She went for a latte and was pleasantly surprised when the barista presented her with a bowl-shaped cup of the hot beverage with 'latte art' of a cat in the light foam. She had considered herself more of a dog person but the cat was very cute.

She took a spot on an armchair by the window to sit in with her drink and waited for Loke's arrival. Ever since she started playing D&D, she had developed a habit of turning up early to places.

She passed the time by gently sipping at her frothing hot coffee and browsing her phone. The night before, not long after she had sent Gray her character sheet and backstory, the group had spoken about rearranging their usual D&D session that week to Friday evening – something that could work for her provided she wasn't kept late at work. They would also be playing a little later than usual to account for everyone needing to get home from work and sort themselves out before heading over for their game. Ultimately, it also meant they would be playing until near midnight too.

"Good day, princess."

Lucy lifted her head to be met with Loke's smile, having seemingly appeared out of nowhere and already greeting her with his own coffee in hand as well as a plate with a plain-looking sandwich in the other.

"Hello, Loke. When did you get here?" Lucy greeted him with surprise, she didn't think she had been that absorbed by her phone to have not noticed him before. Loke always did have a strange way of just appearing in places without warning.

"Hmm, must have been about five minutes ago. It's a good thing it's not too busy this afternoon," he cheerily replied. "Did you want anything? My treat of course!"

Lucy lifted her cup gently, indicating she was already sorted in the drinks department. "I'm fine, I don't need anything although you seem to be hungry yourself," she pointed to his plate with a distinctly fishy smell as Loke sat himself down opposite her, straightening his tie and hair once comfortable.

"You know I'm a sucker for tuna sandwiches," the man answered with an easy smile.

"I swear you're like a cat sometimes," Lucy remarked, taking another sip of her drink.

Loke was quick to get to the main point of the meetup, "Anyway, I wanted to say apologize again, Lucy… for what happened at the party."

Lucy was tired of hearing it and felt the need to remind him again of her thoughts on the matter, "You really don't need to keep apologizing Loke. We're okay, aren't we?"

Loke sat up at hearing her last question, "I hope so! I guess I still feel bad for what I said… about your latest interest."

"It's fine Loke," Lucy uttered back.

Loke looked at her determinedly, "No… I want you to tell me about it. It was wrong of me to judge you and really, I am genuinely curious."

Lucy paused to eye the well-dressed man to gauge how serious he was. It's true that it hurt what he had said that night but Loke was easy to forgive. She considered that maybe she went about explaining it the wrong way; that instead she should try and convince Loke why it was fun for her and especially by mentioning what her druid does.

Putting down her cup with a keen glimmer in her eyes, she took a breath before she began to speak, "Well… I play a character called Luna who uses the power of the stars…"

It was a good hour before Lucy had recapped her entire adventure so far to her friend who was more than interested in paying attention when she started speaking of what her druid could do. Loke asked if she could do things like summon magical spirits and the like but Lucy honestly didn't know. Perhaps there were spells like that but nothing related to her druid's star magic.

"So this… 'Titania', she's played by 'Erza'? Am I right?" He asked as Lucy finished the summary of the last session she played.

With a little embarrassment at the thought of her redhead friend and the fear she invoked, Lucy voiced back, "Y-Yeah, she's actually really scary… but I like her. She makes sure I get home safely on the nights we play."

"I'm glad," he said softly with relief that she wasn't walking home alone late into the evening. "Do you see them much outside of the game?"

"No… I think… I would like to," Lucy sighed, unsure of how to really answer the question. "I'm not sure how to ask any of them… if that's something they would want or…"

She was aware she was falling into the habit of rambling her own insecurities to herself but she also felt unsure of how she could go about suggesting that she wanted to spend more time with them – and did they even have the time? Loke and Cana struggled as it was and Levy surely had her own life and a new set of friends in Crocus by now.

"Lucy. There's no harm in asking. Stop overthinking it and just ask," Loke said, having recognized Lucy's turmoil. "You mentioned er, Natsu a lot, maybe ask him if-"

The man cut himself off from finishing that sentence. Lucy swore he looked as if he was already regretting his suggestion but she didn't see why. What he had started saying… made the most sense. Ask the most approachable player… the nicest player who shares his candy? The 'I have no concept of personal space' player that fell asleep on her? Maybe she should stop thinking of him as a player and more as a friend. Maybe she should take Loke's suggestion and stop overthinking…

Lucy waved her train of thoughts off before returning to answer Loke, "I know I should just ask but playing with them all is one thing – I'm a member of their group but outside of that… I-I don't know."

"Are they all close friends?"

"I think they all went to the same school a few years ago."

"Ah, and with your upbringing…"

Her childhood was not something she spoke of lightly. Beyond the short time she had with her mom, it was lonely and revolved around the ideas of affluence and wealth.

With a dull groan, Lucy took another sip of her latte, finishing it off entirely, "Yeah, dad always insisted private tutoring was the way to go… I'm glad I had some years of schooling with Levy later but I feel like I've missed a big part of-" She didn't really know what – just that she had missed something important in her teen years.

Loke nodded, "I understand Lucy. It's tough, my father was the same. How is your old man anyway?"

The feeling of dread washed over Lucy as she took a deep breath. Talking about her father was not something she was particularly fond of doing. Loke had met him once, a year ago, when her good old dad decided to check up on her here in Magnolia. It seems he approved of Loke as a suitor before she had to correct him that they were not in fact, dating.

"He's the same as always – you know, thinking he has my best interests at heart, hates that I'm not studying business and encourages me back to Crocus for good every so often…"

"Sounds like a typical father if you ask me," Loke nonchalantly replied, drinking down the remainder of his drink the process.

Lucy barely held back a snort, "Ha! That's only half of it! I spoke to him a month ago and he was implying he wants me to come and meet a 'suitable' associate's son!" That was certainly an awkward conversation to have with your own father.

Loke raised an eyebrow at her, "You turned him down I hope?"

A small smile appeared on Lucy's lips as she remembered more of that conversation, "Yeah, of course I did. I know he means well but… he can't keep trying to control me like that. That's why I'm here, in Magnolia, away from him."

"I know you're here for more than just that."

"You're right. I love what I study now and I don't regret my decision."

Lucy's phone began buzzing on the table. She felt a little rude checking it in front of Loke but she could visibly see it was a new message popup in the D&D group chat. She didn't mean to, but the look she threw Loke was one of asking for his forgiveness as she only hesitated for a moment before going to check what the message was.

"Sorry," she mumbled as she unlocked her phone. "Everyone is saying we're going to play on Friday and I just want to make sure that's still the case."

"You don't need to explain Lucy, it's alright," Loke shrugged, choosing to nibble at his toasted sandwich instead.

"… Huh," Lucy absently uttered to herself but it caught Loke's attention regardless.

"What is it?" He asked curiously, wiping crumbs from his lips.

"They're saying that Sabertooth – the group that usually plays on Fridays – gets an audience… so they're just letting me know to be prepared for that I guess."

Loke immediately lit up, "A crowd? So… people can watch you play?"

"I think so."

"In which case, I ask for your humble permission to attend so I can watch!" He announced, standing up theatrically and launching himself into a bow in front of her.

Lucy bit her cheek nervously at the sight, "Stop that! It's embarrassing!"

"Hehe, sorry princess. I couldn't resist," he chuckled, returning to his seat. "But I really would like to go if that's alright with you? I want to see your druid in action! We could see if Cana is available too."

Honestly, it sounded perfect for Lucy. A way to introduce two of her only friends to D&D without them committing to anything. She would have to make sure Cana didn't sneak anything in of the alcoholic nature and hope that Loke wouldn't be too… questioning of her group or attempt to flirt with anyone (although how that would fly with Erza would certainly be a spectacle).

"I think it'll be great if you both came!" Lucy replied with an honest smile. It was about time they saw what D&D was all about.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A chapter giving a little insight into several of our characters as well as setting up for their next D&D session. I changed this chapter quite a bit from how it was originally intended so I hope it flows alright.
> 
> As for the NaLu moments, I aim to please! But it is going to be somewhat of a slow burn to get there as I feel their strong friendship definitely needs to cement itself first to truly be a Natsu and Lucy story!
> 
> The next chapter is quite long with over two pages of notes planned to work through. I might have to split it into two if it doesn't ruin the flow of the story/scenes taking place. 
> 
> Some D&D terms:  
> Multiclass(ing): When a character levels up, they can choose to level up as another class – essentially giving themselves some abilities and traits of another class at a cost to gaining a level in their current class. For example, a rogue might multiclass into a wizard, giving him access to spells.


	8. Cantrip – Part I

**Friday Evening, August 28th**

For the first time since she had first walked to Strauss Games from her home, Lucy wasn't alone and she was in a positively cheerful mood. She had the company of both Loke and Cana who were needless to say, very curious as to what kind of evening they had willingly agreed to attend. Loke had put aside any personal evening plans of his and Cana had convinced her boss to swap her bartending shift at work for the night – all so she could watch a game of D&D being played. Damn, that must have sounded really, really strange to ask.

"Don't think I've ever been to a nerd shop before." Cana idly commented as they walked side by side down the sidewalk together, Loke hanging behind them only slightly.

"You collected cards didn't you, Cana? So you're already half-way to becoming a nerd yourself!" Lucy responded with a cheeky wink, earning herself an astonished look from the brunette.

"That… That's not the same thing at all!" Cana stuttered back at that little revelation, "I just like having them… and they're mostly tarot cards anyway! Nothing nerdy about that!"

Their conversation was quickly interjected by Loke, "Well I for one am very curious about your 'D&D' friends, Lucy." Lucy only offered a nervous smile back.

The truth was that she had no idea what her friends would make of her group. The D&D players were far from being easily startled or timid – on the contrary, she could already imagine Erza intimating Cana as well as seeing Loke attempt to demonstrate his charming nature on the Strauss ladies.

Actually… When Lucy thought about it, Mira was gorgeous but Lucy rarely observed anyone outright flirt with her, merely compliment her stunning good looks instead. There had to be a reason for that surely?

After another twenty minutes of walking, the store was visible to all of them and Lucy noticed the immediate difference in the surrounding car park – it was a lot more packed than she had ever observed it being before. Her group wasn't kidding when they said they would be having an audience. Sabertooth must have one hell of an interesting game going on to attract this many people.

She would have to ask everyone later why Fairy Tail's game didn't attract a crowd at all by comparison other than the curious shopper that would stop and look once in a while.

Loke took it upon himself to hold open the shop door for them as they entered and Lucy didn't waste any time in getting to the table, pushing past a few people browsing the shelves and noticing that Lisanna was in the process of placing fold-out chairs in the vicinity of the table area.

"Hey, Lisanna!" Lucy jovially greeted whilst gesturing her hands to the area around them, "Is it really going to be that busy tonight?"

"Oh yeah. You can expect all these seats to be taken." Lisanna indicated, pointing her index to several of the chairs she had placed, "Fridays are popular for observers although I think they'll be fewer people tonight as Sabertooth isn't here."

"Is it really that entertaining to watch?" Lucy asked, genuinely curious as to why watching and not playing would be fun for anyone.

Before Lisanna could answer, Lucy felt dainty hands grip her shoulders from behind her with a whiff of rosy perfume engulfing her senses for a second, "It can be." spoke the voice of a cheery Mirajane, "Sabertooth know how to excite a crowd, sometimes they even let the crowd decide the outcomes of dice rolls!"

Looking up at her, Lucy could see that the silver-haired beauty looked very pleased with the prospect of a large audience if the fierce gleam in her eyes was any indication.

"… And the store always earns a lot of jewel on Fridays too so it's great that your group is filling in for tonight!" Mira said with a devilish smile, giving another firm grip on Lucy's shoulders before pulling away to help Lisanna finish setting up the chairs. Lucy had never seen Mira look so happy in the shop before today. She wasn't sure what to make of it.

Lucy decided it would be best to have a quick look around the shop for her friends – noticing immediately that Loke had engaged in conversation with a couple of young women near the video game-related merchandise and Cana was currently browsing the various different series of card packs at the counter.

With her friends occupied and not looking totally lost and out of place in a 'nerd' store, Lucy turned her attention to the table. Gajeel was there helping Gray set things up – placing various miniatures and small models of buildings down on the grid paper as Gray instructed him on where everything went. Remembering that their last session ended with them entering a town, it was was clear that was what they were now putting together although miniature buildings had never been used before.

That wasn't what was unusual however about the situation – it was the fact that a certain pink-haired man was not at the table nor did he appear to be anywhere visibly on the shop floor. Natsu was always here before she was, _always_. Lucy found that it a little concerning and she wasn't sure if he was just running late or maybe he was just in the basement.

"Gray?" Lucy inquired, approaching the table.

The man broke away from his concentration to face her, "Hm? Oh hey Lucy, good to see you."

"Yeah, wanna give us a hand, Blondie?" Gajeel asked, pointing at the unplaced miniatures.

"Sure." Lucy gently picked up some of the buildings and looked at where to align them on the grid paper on the table, "So where's Natsu?" she asked as she did so.

"Did you not see group chat? He said he's running a bit late tonight." Gray answered her. Now she felt silly as she hadn't even thought to look at her phone ever since she started walking to the store with Cana and Loke.

Gajeel, for no explicable reason as far as she could tell, shot her a weird smile that made her feel a little unnerved by it.

"Erza?" Lucy inquired about although she already knew that Erza would show up exactly on time and not a minute earlier.

"She'll be here on the dot as usual," Gray confirmed for her as he rearranged some of the already placed miniatures.

Lucy, once meeting Gray's satisfaction for the placement of his props, took the time put her character sheet, notes and dice out next to her usual seat before going to check on her other, visiting friends.

Loke was still preoccupied with the two ladies by the merchandise, not that it really surprised Lucy in the slightest so she decided to see what Cana was up to instead. She sauntered over to the counter where the brunette was standing.

Noticing that Cana's attention was still on the packs of cards, Lucy couldn't resist being a little smug, "I know you would be interested in the cards!" she remarked, causing Cana to jump slightly at her sudden presence. She shrugged it off however.

"Yeah… I didn't think they would have so many different brands. What's this 'Magic: The Gathering' anyway?" Cana asked, looking utterly bewildered at the choices in front of her.

Lucy shrugged back. She hadn't a clue.

"Is it alright to drink in here by the way?" Cana suddenly asked, reaching into her jacket to pull a small silver canteen without warning.

Lucy was quick to jump in, quickly pushing the canteen back into Cana's pocket for her, "What?! No Cana! It's not a bar! They don't have a license to serve alcohol here!"

"Eh, nobody will notice." Cana simply replied, unconcerned.

"Cana, just n-" Lucy began to say, only to jump when she felt a tap on her shoulder, unintentionally letting out a small shriek of surprise. Lucy spun around to be greeted by the sweet face of Mirajane once again. Lucy wondered if the woman somehow had a sixth sense and was somehow able to hone in on Cana's antics.

"Wow, sorry if I scared you, Lucy!" she gently laughed, "I've just popped over here to see if you girls needed anything?"

Not wanting Mira to cotton on to the booze that Cana was concealing in her jacket, Lucy promptly had to think of something quickly to distract the silvery-haired lady. The last thing she wanted was for her friends to be kicked out and forever be placed on some sort of ban list that may or may not exist.

"Uh, yeah actually!" Lucy replied with definite uncertainty quavering in her voice, "I, erm…"

She glanced around the counter, quickly taking note of all the stocked snacks and drinks, "I wanted to buy Natsu's snacks for him! … He's running late and you look really busy so I'd thought I would help out!"

Why she suddenly thought of buying Natsu's food for him was anyone's guess – she had no idea why that was her first, immediate thought in her mind. She could have just bought her own snacks instead for once seeing as her paycheck went through and she actually had funds on in her bank account.

Mirajane of course raised an eyebrow at her quizzically, "Are you sure?" She asked with bated breath.

"Yeah, totally!" Lucy answered, trying to act casual about it as best she could as Mira muttered 'alright' under her breath and went behind the counter to start piling up snacks on the usual 'Natsu tray'.

Cana was also offering Lucy a strange look, "You're buying snacks for a guy, Lucy?" She asked, her curiousness swiftly turning to a devious smirk.

' _Well I wouldn't have to if you could just put the bottle away for one minute…'_ Lucy grit her teeth at the brunette, "Yeah, he's been offering me snacks all the time so I think I should return the favor for a change!"

Lucy let loose an internal cheer; that excuse made sense for sure. Cana said nothing more and continued admiring the different card packs as Mira plated up bag after bag after bag… and Lucy then realized her horrible mistake.

This would cost her an absolute fortune. Why did Natsu have to eat so damn much! No wonder Mirajane had looked at her so apprehensively!

As Lucy was now suddenly regretting her spontaneous, kind gesture as soon Mira had run up the total cost of the food and as well as a few bottled drinks, the clock chimed nearby and the bell rang out over the door. Lucy didn't exactly need to look over to know that Erza had arrived but she did so anyway.

Erza looked… well, lovely she thought. It wasn't as if she wasn't looking particularly different aside from some small, subtle changes – her clothes looked new (all Heart Kreuz if Lucy's keen eye for fashion was correct) and her beautiful red hair… it looked so shiny and sleek! Furthermore, Erza who often walked in with such a sternness; a look suggesting she had already rolled for intimidation in real life and scored highly- was instead looking… peaceful… hopeful? The small but shy smile she wore did not go amiss.

"Gihi. I bet I know who her 'guest' is this weekend." remarked Gajeel who had inconspicuously made his way over to the counter, earning yet another jump of surprise from Lucy. She had no idea why she was being so jumpy today!

His sudden appearance had caught Cana's attention, "Hey… you look familiar." She accused him, waggling her finger at him as if she were already a bit tipsy. Lucy hoped not but wouldn't put it past her either.

"Heh." Gajeel uttered in an amused fashion and then walked off without another word, going back to the table. Lucy cocked her head at the strange exchange between the two of them. That was definitely odd she thought.

Before she had a chance to inquire about it, Lucy already heard her name being called, "Lucy, get seated before the crowds get impatient.' Erza ordered, having efficiently unpacked and taken temporary command of the table as Gray finished ordering his notes for the impending session. The dungeon master looked nervous which wasn't really a surprise considering this would be the first time (or so Lucy assumed) that they would be playing with an audience present.

Taking the tray of snacks which was much heavier than anyone could anticipate from just looking at it, Lucy trotted over to her seat with Cana in tow.

Gajeel shot her a mystified look as she sat herself down, placing the tray to one side as his steely eyes darted between her and the mountain of food she had brought over.

"You eating like Salamander does now?" He asked skeptically.

Lucy threw him a disgusted look back, how the hell did he think she could pull off eating that much in one sitting? "What?! No, those are for Natsu!"

"You get anything for the rest of us or is it only you two that share things together now?" Gajeel asked mockingly.

Lucy didn't hesitate in grabbing the nearest bag of chips and throwing it at him, aiming for his head. It hit him squarely in his chest and he smugly accepted it, reveling in her annoyance.

Her frowning only ceased once Loke chose to sit to her a little bit behind her on her left with a bemused expression on his face but said nothing. His two lady acquaintances sat close by to him as well and they had no issue in throwing a few scowls of their own towards the Lucy. She huffed at them in response as it wasn't exactly her fault that Loke had suddenly stopped paying attention to them.

Cana soon joined them in seating too, nudging Lucy and giving her a wink before she sat down with her hand already reaching for her concealed flask in her jacket's pocket. Lucy could only frown a little but kept quiet, not wishing to draw attention to the 'contraband'.

She already had other things to worry about such as the seat at the table beside hers being mysteriously empty. Of what she knew about Natsu, he didn't seem like the type to allow himself to be kept too long from a game of throwing firebolts and conversing in an ancient dragon language. She didn't like that he wasn't here, instilling excitement in her for whatever adventure they would run into for that evening.

The crowds began to loudly chatter all around them as they waited for the session to start which made any hearing between the players at the table difficult. Lucy resorted to checking the group chat on her phone for the first time since she had arrived but there was nothing new other than, as Gray had already said earlier, Natsu's message about being late.

"What shall we do about Natsu?" Erza spoke up in a somewhat agitated voice over the murmurs and prattle of the audience. Gajeel stayed silent aside from hungrily munching on the chips that Lucy threw at him.

"We're just gonna have to start without him. He won't miss much when you're all in a town anyway." Gray answered, "We can't keep everyone waiting much longer and Mirajane has some… expectations."

Lucy looked over at the mentioned store owner who was cheerfully ringing up people's snacks and drinks.

"What kind of expectations?" Lucy inquired.

"I know our group isn't the best at it or anything – but you all need to roleplay more and be entertaining. We still don't have a working music system which doesn't help much-" Gray rolled his eyes on admitting that, "-but give it your best, yeah?"

Lucy nodded in agreement, Gajeel grunted and Erza looked excited. "I've been practicing my vocals for this session, my roleplaying ability shall be next to none!" She declared with a sparkle in her eyes.

"Yeah… sure." Gray replied apprehensively to her, "Let's just get started as soon as the Mira's finished over at register."

Lucy began using the little time they had before starting to not only mentally prepare herself for more 'roleplay' but to go over everything in her character sheet and notes again just to be extra prepared for the evening. There was nothing wrong with planning ahead and forming a strategy well in advance of any situations that could arise after all. Although she had no problem in admitting that it felt a lot more stressful with an audience watching with 'expectations'.

A quick look over at the cash register informed her that Mira was soon done with only a couple of customers left. Lucy sadly sighed, knowing that Natsu probably wouldn't make it on time and it would feel weird to play, even if just for a short while at the most, without their resident fire mage.

As if on cue, the bell over the front door began to ring out.

Lucy didn't get a chance to turn and look to see if was Natsu or not as that was already answered for her when said man came barreling inside, knocking over a couple of stands and accidentally whacking a few observers with his backpack in the process. He halted at the end of the table and was panting heavily.

"About fuckin' time!" Gajeel snarled a little harshly at him, "We're just about to start without your sorry ass!"

"Natsu, did something happen?" Erza asked, standing up and already clenching her fist as if anticipating that Natsu had been running from something dangerous.

Natsu let out a long breath, throwing his bag down beside him. Raising his head, he looked over the table and merely smiled, "Nah!"

"Wait… did you run all the way here?" Gray asked, looking at his friend with a mixture of surprise and concern.

"Yeah, had to if I wanted… to get here on time." Natsu replied, still catching his breath, "was no way… I was gonna take the bus."

"Really Natsu, I could have picked you up if you were that behind schedule," Erza said as she sat back down.

"Nah. I got here didn't I?"

Lucy on the other hand was experiencing such a huge sense of relief seeing that Natsu had made it before the game started. The thought of having to roleplay with just Erza and Gajeel terrified her just a little bit. Being able to roleplay with Natsu felt the easiest – even if he was not much different from how he seemed in person. Sure he was the loose cannon in the group but it made things that much more fun… most of the time.

"Hey, Lucy!" He greeted her as he ungracefully plonked himself down in his chair next to hers. He didn't pay attention to her for more than a couple of seconds before he noticed the tray of snacks in front of him, "Mira brought all this over already?" He asked nobody in particular.

He turned to the direction of the attentive shopkeeper, "Hey! Thanks, Mira!" He yelled out.

Lucy wasn't sure if she was annoyed that Natsu didn't realize it was actually her that paid for his food or if she was relieved that she didn't have awkwardly explain why she felt the need to buy his food for him – even though it had just been a rouse to conceal the fact that Cana had sneaked in booze.

"Oh, Lucy paid for those so don't worry about the tab!" Mirajane called back as she was tallying up the last customer's snacks.

' _Dammit, Mira.'_ Lucy thought as she bowed her head slightly, avoiding the awkward stares from the rest of the table. Thankfully, Erza and Gray only took a moment before resuming their previous conversation. Gajeel on the other hand was watching her with hint of amusement on his face. For a guy that acts tough, he sure was nosy.

"Really?" Natsu spoke before quickly turning to back to Lucy grinning from ear to ear, "Thanks! I gotcha something too!"

Lucy gingerly lifted her head at what he had said, her eyes widening in surprise as Natsu reached down to his backpack to pull out all his associated D&D related things and sloppily placing each item on the table.

It didn't take long for Natsu to finally get what he was digging around for – a small unmarked and unsealed cardboard box. He proudly pushed it in front of her and Lucy found herself staring at it for seconds? Minutes? She didn't know. This was… completely unexpected and left her flabbergasted.

She looked to her pink-haired friend, unknowingly blushing with an expression of nothing less than pure, utter confusion, "Uh… Natsu? What-"

"Open it already, we gotta game to play!" Natsu cut her off impatiently and was in the midst of already placing his character's miniature on the board.

Lucy didn't even dare turn to look at Loke or Cana – they were, without a shadow of a doubt, watching this with keen interest and probably coming up with all kinds of crazy conclusions. She took a gentle, nervous breath before taking the box and carefully flipping the lid and hoping it wasn't anything embarrassing.

To her surprise, she was thrown off guard entirely when the contents were revealed to be a miniature. Her delicate fingers reached out and gently scooped into the box to find out exactly what kind of miniature it was, finding the base and lifting it out carefully.

In her hand was a character miniature, not unlike the ones already on the table, but it was easily recognizable as being modeled after Luna – her character. It was incredibly close to how she had originally imagined her – in fact, the model looked eerily similar to herself – long blonde hair, white and blue clothing, a book in one hand and a gold key in the other; all intricately painted.

Lost for words, her mouth agape, she looked to Natsu who was attentively awaiting her response.

"Is this… really for me? My character…" Lucy barely managed to gasp out as she looked back and forth towards the model in her hand and Natsu's curious, boyish expression.

"Well, yeah you weirdo," Natsu answered at what should have been obvious – she was just too in shock at what she was seeing before her. "It's 'bout time you had something like the rest of us."

Before Lucy could say anything more, Natsu leaned over and swiped the miniature carelessly from her hand.

"Wait!" Lucy yelped, breaking from her daze and immediately reaching back to him as if to take the miniature back. Fears that her initial response may have upset him crossed her mind.

She paused in her actions when she saw that Natsu had only taken the miniature back to replace the generic miniature on the table that she had been using with the new one in his palm.

Looking at such a simple gesture… it felt right. Her character looked as if she belonged with the rest of them now. Lucy felt like she truly belonged now and any wandering doubts that she may have felt as if they had evaporated in that short, brief moment.

"Now we're ready to play!" Natsu declared to her, turning to her with his trademark smile, "You ready, Lucy?"

Without even thinking it through, Lucy reacted to Natsu in a way she hadn't expected of herself and probably in a way that no one else had either.

She pulled him into an awkward, table side-hug. It only lasted a few seconds with her uttering a tiny whisper of 'Thank you, I love it' before suddenly realizing that what she was doing when Natsu jerked back a little in surprise. If anything, his reaction was more surprising to her considering that he was always the one to intrude on her personal space all the time. It turns out Natsu was a bit of an enigma.

' _He didn't outright tell me to not hug him though so it can't have been all bad, right?'_ She thought as she regained her composure and tried to avoid yet another frustrating moment where heat would rush to her cheeks. Speaking of heat – wow, was he warm to the touch. Definitely an enigma.

"Everyone ready to begin?" Gray suddenly asked loudly to everyone, addressing not just them but the audience too. Lucy wasn't aware if the table at seen what had transpired between her and Natsu's gift but it didn't look like they had been paying attention to them.

The room quietened down and soon, Gray began to recite the key moments from the last game's session.

Lucy had blissfully forgotten that Loke and Cana were sitting directly behind her during the receiving of her 'gift'. If she hadn't, she might have been aware of the surprised expressions they wore on their faces with many questions floating in their minds that Lucy would be facing before too long.

* * *

"Luna, stop looking at all the clothes and stuff and come to the tavern already!" Was the frustrated voice of Natsu, roleplaying as Salamander.

"Just a bit longer!" She answered him, roleplaying as the eloquent Luna, "What did you say the blue robes cost again, good sir?" It was easy to revert back to the polite mannerisms that she had been brought up in her childhood when playing her 'noble' character. In Lucy's mind, Luna was everything she wanted to be herself: reliable, friendly and willing to stand her ground for herself and her friends.

"Screw this, you're taking too long, I'm going!" Natsu called out as he moved his miniature towards the building that Gray had introduced to them as 'The Black Dragon Inn'. Naturally, Lucy was completely aware of Natsu's tendency to be impatient, brash as well as his occasional stubbornness and it easily reflected in his own character's actions. In a way, it was obvious he was just roleplaying as himself with the added bonus that he was also a powerful sorcerer.

But roleplaying with him and playing off of each other's interactions seemed to go down well with the crowd who laughed at their antics or occasionally booed at them when one of them acted upset with the other.

Lucy took no offense to neither Natsu nor the crowds. It was a game, she was having fun and it was clear as day to see Natsu was also enjoying himself too.

As Gray took turns to see what character was doing what, Lucy took the time to check on her visiting friends who seemed to be watching the table with an interest unmatched by any other observer save for Mirajane.

They seemed absorbed by what she was doing, with Cana occasionally cheering when Lucy spoke up. That was probably the sneaky swigs of her drink causing it however.

"It'll be three gold for the robes, miss!" Gray chirped back at her in the voice of the stall keeper.

"I want to try to persuade the stall keeper with my _womanly_ charms to lower the price." Lucy declared to Gray with full confidence in herself. Perhaps she wasn't used to the idea of flirting openly in person but her character sure was! As soon as she said those words, there were a few small leers and cheers from the observant crowd.

Lucy didn't feel uncomfortable in the slightest as Erza had been especially vigilant on deterring any would-be-perverts with a frightening gaze.

"Okay, roll for a persuasion check." Gray calmly asked of her.

Lucy shook her dice as Natsu watched on beside her whilst piling more cheese flavored chips into his mouth.

She rolled and scored a 9. She added her persuasion skill – something she had previously selected as being proficient at – which then brought her total score to becoming a 12.

Gray was quiet for a few seconds as Lucy eagerly awaited the outcome.

"Roleplay it!" Sneered a loud voice from the crowd.

The players at the table turned their heads to the eager observer – a lanky, pale-looking man with dark set eyes and a greasy mop of pale white hair. It was the first time that evening that anyone from the audience had chosen to loudly speak up.

Lucy didn't have a chance to respond to the man as Erza had already turned in her seat to face him. She, however, didn't have a chance to say anything either as Mira coughed very loudly from nearby – a stark, wordless reminder that they were supposed to be entertaining the audience for that evening.

Gray, having observed the exchange, leaned over towards Lucy to whisper to her: "If you're uncomfortable with it, you don't have to."

Lucy shook her head gently at him, it was only a bit of fun and she would probably just make people laugh with whatever she could come up with. She didn't dare to look behind her or even at Natsu to gauge their reactions at what she was about to do.

She cleared her throat anxiously, "Luna goes up to the stall and uh, leans over provocatively to give him a few of her… 'assets'."

" _So_ how much is it _really_ for the robes?" She uttered, putting special emphasis on certain parts of her sentence and attempting her best 'flirty' voice. To her surprise, she didn't think she was half bad! Well, she didn't think so until Natsu started snickering beside her.

"Hey, I wasn't _that_ bad!" Lucy loudly said to him, lightly slapping him on his shoulder without really thinking about it. That definitely made the crowd laugh a little.

Gray smiled at her in a way that immediately told her she was going to be disappointed with her efforts, "Well… you are certainly a fine young lady! For you, the price can be… two gold and 90 silver!"

"Seriously, that's the discount?" Lucy asked, jawing dropping. With a bit of grumbling, she begrudgingly paid up, angrily rubbing out the penciled amount on her character sheet and replacing it with her significantly lower amount. She should maybe consider asking the others if they would be okay with doing another bounty quest just so her character wouldn't be sleeping on the streets. At least her druid now had another set of clothes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *This is half of this chapter – part 2 will contain the rest of this evening as well as some D&D!
> 
> So I got the flu from my SO soon after posting the previous chapter and well, writing when you are sick doesn't work out so great and everything took a bit longer to write. I wrote about 4000 words of it while being ill so that's something! My SO even went to go get checked at the hospital for Covid just in case but we're both fine – just plain old regular flu.
> 
> In other news, I have to say I'm excited for Gruvia and Jerza fans after seeing chapter 63 of the 100YQ chapter! There's so much character progression in the sequel!
> 
> LOTS of speculation and feedback from you all which I love to read! All I can say is you'll have to wait and see how the characters and their friendships/relationships came to be – all will be revealed in time!
> 
> Also, a gentle reminder that this is a NaLu fic first and foremost so don't expect a lot of coverage on other ships (no dedicated chapters or arcs or anything like that), mostly mentions, hints and some scenes/flashbacks.


	9. Cantrip – Part II

**Friday Evening, August 28th**

The session was going well; they had all assisted some townsfolk with some meager problems, Metalicana had entertained children with his lute and Lucy observed that the way he had roleplayed it suggested that the aggressive-looking man might actually be decent with kids. Gray had, thankfully, only stripped once so far which was quickly noticed when there were shocked gasps coming from the audience. Mira was able to rectify things by offering free popcorn and a glaring stare that could only be matched by a Medusa's that convinced Gray to keep himself in check better.

When the party returned to the tavern in the latter half of the session, Gray surprised them all with an announcement from the tavern keep that there was to be a public drinking contest taking place that evening.

"Do any of you choose to take part?" he asked everyone seated at the table.

"What's the prize?" Gajeel asked, his dark eyes revealing his interest in the competition.

"Who cares! Let's win it anyway!" Natsu declared, banging his fist on the table and causing a couple of unimportant miniatures to topple over.

"Natsu," Erza warned him with glare, causing Natsu to shrink back into his seat with a frown.

Responding in the voice of the tavern keep, Gray looked to Gajeel to answer him, "The prize is a free meal, one week's worth of rations and your name on the 'The Black Dragon Inn's Board of Fame'."

"I'm in," Gajeel answered without any further hesitation.

"What's the cost of participating?" Erza inquired but as usual, without any clarity of whether she was acting 'in character' or not.

"One gold to enter, the ale is free," Gray answered her. Erza quickly agreed to join in too.

Lucy looked at the measly amount of money listed on her sheet. Two gold and seventeen silver. Would it be that irresponsible to spend some of it on a drinking contest? She didn't want to miss out…

"You're gonna join too, right Luna?" Natsu asked her, moving his own miniature to approach hers.

She really wasn't sure if she should. It would only be worth it if she actually won the contest and that was obviously down to the luck of the dice. So much for 'Lucky Lucy', the dice didn't seem to be that favorable of her when it came to playing D&D it seemed.

A quick look at Natsu awaiting her answer was her undoing. He looked positively hopeful that she would be joining in too, "Yeah, I'll join." she soon said, already regretting the words leaving her mouth. Natsu looked satisfied with this before grabbing his dice, eager to play.

Turning to Gray, she decided that if she was going to play, she should at least understand the rules of the game and proceeded to ask him what they were. He grinned wryly back, "The rules are simple, miss. Pick one of the three ales and drink it all. You lose if you forfeit, leave your seat, give up or pass out."

Those rules certainly seemed simple enough to Lucy and to everyone else at the table. They all crossed off one gold from their character sheets as Gray began describing the table that their characters were sitting at as well as the three ales named 'Fire', 'Ice' and 'Steel'.

During the brief descriptions (Lucy had already theorized that 'Ice' would probably be the safest ale to pick), a realization had occurred to her that perhaps hadn't yet dawned on anyone else.

The rules didn't state that magic couldn't be used.

Eyes widening at this little revelation, Lucy flicked through the spell sheet for her character and double-checked for any spells that she may have that could help her in this situation. While it was true she didn't have much to choose from – anything could make all the difference and her one gold wouldn't be wasted. She laughed at herself internally at knowing that her financial situation had essentially been swapped with Luna's. It seemed no matter where she went, fantasy or reality, everything kept coming back to struggles with money.

"Let's go around the table clockwise," Gray said as the game began, allowing Erza to go first.

Erza was silent for a second as she contemplated her choice of ales, a small smile appearing on her face as she was clearly creating some sort of battle plan in her mind, "I'll take 'Steel'," she declared.

"Okay, you take the stein of ale, noting its strange silver undertones in the liquid and gulp it down. You'll need to roll a constitution save."

As Lucy understood it, a save of that nature pertained to your character's overall health and wellness. Luna's constitution was only a '+1' which didn't exactly give her an edge on the dice rolls.

Erza on the other hand, was able to add an extra 5 to her dice roll thanks to her being the warrior class. She rolled a 13, bringing her total to 18, an easy save or so Lucy presumed. What effect the ales had on their characters was still unknown.

Gajeel went next and Lucy only felt slightly bad as she focused on flicking through her notes to read the details of her spells instead of giving him her full attention. "Steel." He confidently stated.

Lucy didn't need to see his roll to know he didn't do well a few seconds later. Natsu was boisterously laughing followed by a few snickers from the crowd as well. Lucy was too pleased with the fact that she had a spell she could use – a cantrip in fact – a weak spell that could be used an unlimited number of times without using any of her spell slots.

"Alright, Metalicana, you feel the effects of the ale immediately. You taste a metallic tang on your tongue and it turns silver. Your character also begins to feel tipsy." Gray calmly stated earning a grunt of displeasure from the biker in response.

"What if I like the taste of it…" Gajeel muttered.

Gray didn't even have a chance to announce that Natsu would be going next as Natsu was already shaking his dice in his palm and loudly proclaiming "FIRE". Lucy didn't think anyone at the table had any doubts about what ale Natsu was going to pick in the slightest.

The D20 left his palm and rolled and landed.

Unfortunately, it landed on a 6.

"That's uh-" Natsu paused to look at his sheet, "An 8 altogether? That's enough, yeah?"

"No pinkie, it really isn't." Gray snarkily replied.

Natsu groaned and reluctantly listened to Gray recite how his character found the ale 'too hot' for him and how it burnt his tongue drinking it. Needless to say, Natsu, playing the fire mage, did not look happy in the slightest being told this, his face pulling a mire of annoyed expressions. "You also feel a little tipsy." Gray tacked on at the end.

The dungeon master turned to Lucy and from the way he was looking at her, she had the distinct impression that he was expecting her to do something more than just drink – the man was certainly observant.

"I cast 'Resistance' on myself." Lucy declared with conviction, "And I'll take 'Ice'."

"Wait, what?" Natsu blurted out as Erza sat forward and Gajeel looked on at her in surprise.

"The rules didn't say I couldn't use spells… so I cast 'Resistance' on myself," Lucy repeated to them with a smirk. Erza turned the Gray, awaiting a response regarding this little oversight.

"She's right, I didn't say magic wasn't allowed," Gray confirmed for them. "Roll your dice… and good choice on the ale by the way."

Despite hearing a perturbed sounding grunt from Natsu beside her, whether it was at Gray's ruling or the compliment about her drink choice, Lucy grinned eagerly as she shook her hand excitedly with an extra dice in tow – the D4. She would be able to earn between an extra 1 to 4 on her total score with this little spell of hers.

She rolled an even 10 which she added an extra 1 from her character sheet to as well as the 3 she rolled on the smaller, accompanying dice, bringing her total score to 14.

"It's a save," Gray stated indifferently. Now she and Erza were currently winning.

Almost immediately, Natsu and Gajeel dove into their spell sheets, desperate to also have an edge in the competition. Lucy didn't want to admit she could also cast the spell on them too – but where would the fun be in that? She wanted to win this thing.

Gray rolled behind his screen for the three non-player characters that were also in the contest, two failed, one didn't. There was always a chance that the players could lose to them but Lucy had a feeling Gray wasn't about to let that happen.

It came around back to Erza's turn once again and she repeated the exact same action as before, 'Steel' and another successful dice roll.

"How the hell do you keep rollin' so well?!" Gajeel yelled at her in frustration – perhaps because he had come to the conclusion that he had no spells that could help him.

Gajeel took the 'Fire' option on his turn as he glared at Natsu in some kind of unspoken challenge. There were a couple of threats of starting a fight 'there and then' from Natsu swiftly followed up by a stern growl of warning from Mira who was watching from nearby before Gajeel finally rolled his dice.

This time he succeeded with a 17 – and the knowledge that his character could take the heat when Natsu's couldn't.

Fully expecting another ensuing bout of insults and aggression, Lucy was surprised to see that Natsu instead bore a mischievous grin on his face.

"Oi, Ice Jerk! You said there were candles on the table, right?" Natsu asked, turning to Gray.

"Yeah, and?" Gray replied, confused as to what Natsu was getting at.

"I cast 'Control Flames' then!" Natsu declared, turning back and staring down Gajeel, "and make the candle flames set fire to Metalicana's chair!"

"No way you're allowed to do that!" Gajeel jerked back, slamming his palms down on the table with a thud.

"Technically he can…" Gray answered him, "and his character doesn't have to say any magic words to do it so nobody knows he was involved either."

Gajeel's face dropped as Natsu looked on at him smugly.

Gray rubbed his fingers against his head tiredly, "So, uh, Metalicana, your chair suddenly catches on fire and you feel the flames trying to catch onto your clothes and instruments," he explained to him.

"Fine! Metalicana gets up and tries to put the fire out!" Gajeel barked at him but pointed his finger at Natsu, "But he's playin' dirty and it ain't right!"

"You lose, metalhead," Natsu smirked at him, leaving the dark-haired man twitching as well as looking on the verge of throwing a fist his way. Lucy was really hoping this wouldn't sour things between the party – heck, Natsu still might have Salamander do that little trick on everyone in the room to win.

"Natsu, you still need to take part in the drinking contest if you're still playing." Gray reminded him, looking somewhat tenser than before.

"Yeah, I'll take another 'Fire' then," Natsu answered, already rolling his dice – a 15. It was a save and it left him looking positively gleeful.

As soon as Gray announced it was Lucy's turn once more, she hesitated for a moment, expecting Natsu to announce that he would also be setting fire to her character's chair but surprisingly, he stayed silent. She shrugged at him as if to ask him why that was but he merely cocked his head in confusion at her.

"'Ice',' Lucy eventually said as she rolled her dice, completely forgetting to recast her Resistance cantrip again and only realizing it once the dice had landed. "Shoot," she uttered at both her sudden forgetfulness and the 6 she had just rolled – a failure. That didn't bode well but she was determined not to forget next time.

The game continued for three more rounds – there were no more chair fires much to Gajeel's annoyance and the tavern patrons that Gray had take part in the drinking contest were now also out of the game. Natsu was currently winning as Lucy and Erza's characters had descended into slurring drunks and Lucy suspected that another failure on her part would probably mean the end of having any hope that Luna could win this little contest.

It was currently her turn and she remembered her Resistance cantrip this time. Natsu had just failed his save but he looked hopeful that he could still win. Erza's determined glare in both of their directions suggested she wasn't going to stop for anything. Lucy nervously shook her pink D20, hoping she could last just a little bit longer.

She just so happened to roll yet another 6. She followed with the D4 but she didn't think it would make a much of a difference at this point.

It didn't as it rolled a 1.

"Wow… I really am out of luck today, huh." She muttered to herself.

Gray rolled his dice before looking over from his screen at her apologetically, "Unfortunately, as the amount of ale Luna has consumed was excessive, she passes out face down on the table."

' _Well…_ _that's that then.'_ Lucy thought to herself, disappointed despite having a game plan.

The drinking contest only lasted another round and much to Natsu's ire, Erza won when he failed his save too – although it didn't cause his character to pass out.

If Lucy thought that Natsu and Gajeel were competitive, Erza was… something else at that moment. She didn't gloat but her eyes and smile said it all – she was exceedingly happy to have won.

Much of the crowd obviously thought so too when Gray announced her as the winner with several cheers ringing out around them.

Lucy was a bit of a loss about what she should do from this point onwards. Her character was out drunk on the table.

"Gray, what happens to Luna now?" she inquired over the cheers.

When the crowd had settled again, Gray answered her, "Let's see… how about the rest of the group gets her a room to sleep off all the ale?" It was more of a question aimed at the rest of the table, encouraging them to care for their unconscious teammate.

Natsu sat up after a split second, evidently about to agree with the statement but for the second time that evening, a member of the audience spoke up first.

"You should roll to decide what happens to her!" The male audience member jeered. Lucy looked over at the man, not surprised to see it was the same individual as before – 'Mr. Greasy White Hair'.

That guy was definitely adamant on being entertained she thought.

Gray groaned, understandably frustrated at the interruption again. He locked eyes with Mirajane, awaiting confirmation of whether roleplay was needed or not in this scenario. Her steely gaze back told him that he should; it was after all, good for business.

"Alright, I'll roll," Gray said, taking his dice and rolling secretly behind his screen. Lucy awaited the outcome once more, preparing herself mentally for however she was going to be roleplaying – if she even was when her character was currently unconscious.

Gray paused before clearing his throat. He spoke up loudly so that the audience could clearly hear him, "Luna, as you are unconscious and having a drunken nap on the table, a shady man approaches you, eyeing up the coin pouch attached to your robes-"

"I wanna roll to see if I spot him!" Natsu swiftly announced before Gray could say any more.

"I will also roll!" Erza vehemently declared.

"Yeah, alright, same here," Gajeel added with what sounded like pity in his voice.

Lucy couldn't help but smile fondly at each and every one of them. They were watching out for her and it warmed her heart to know they cared.

"Okay, each of you, roll a perception check to see if you can spot the approaching man and what he's trying to do," Gray asked of them.

Natsu was quick to roll, his black and red dice bouncing off the miniature buildings as he sat forward to read the result as fast as he could.

It wasn't great: only a 7.

Natsu looked apologetically at Lucy, shrugging slightly at her, "Sorry, I tried," he said, his words laced with disappointment. Lucy was about to thank him anyway but Erza and Gajeel's dice were quickly rolled in succession.

Their results were also in single digits.

' _Just great.'_ Lucy thought, her character was about to have the last of her gold robbed and she couldn't do anything about it. _'Thanks, White Hair'._

Gray continued on as he was before, "Nobody spots the shady man approach Luna as he pretends to show concern for her condition but instead, he secretly is detaching the coin pouch-"

"Oh come on, the shady man would want to do more than just steal her gold!" The same white-haired man sneered loudly from the crowd yet again.

What he said, however, left Lucy in shock for a moment, unsure if she had really heard what he was insinuating. Why was that guy so fixated on her character anyway? He hadn't protested to anyone else's lack of roleplay that evening.

Lucy found she didn't need to ponder on the intrusive man's words as only mere seconds later, both Natsu and Erza had shot up from their seats as Gajeel and Gray both turned to stare at the guy with something akin to anger. She even heard chairs screech across the floor from behind her as it was likely that Loke and Cana had also stood up to say something.

"Dude, what the hell?! It's not that kind of game, man!" Gray lambasted him. As the dungeon master and organizer of this campaign, he was felt responsible for ensuring everyone has a good time.

Gray's scolding was nothing compared to the fiery temperaments of Natsu and Erza. The former of whom was yelling something along the lines of 'daring that guy to repeat himself so he can beat the crap out of him'.

Erza of course, was the true terror of the table – not needing to yell like her pink-haired friend was but instead standing tall with an expression that was positively ferocious. "You dare demand something like that from a member of this group?!" She seethed at the man who was quick to slink cowardly back into his chair at the sight of the redhead.

Lucy was half in mind to say something too, heck, she felt angry when she thought about what kind of dark roleplay he was pushing them for, but it seems her friends had it well and truly covered.

Before anything could escalate, Mirajane interjected herself into the situation, asking the murmuring audience and angry players to calm themselves. It was only when the store owner asked the rude onlooker over to one side did Lucy get a true glimpse of the line that this guy crossed.

As Gray attempted to calm things down (although was not having much luck with Natsu whose fist was clenched on the table whilst he stared bitterly at the white-haired man as he walked away with Mira), the dungeon master instead explained that Luna's coin pouch was indeed stolen by the shady character and nothing further happened.

Watching Mira however, standing with 'Mr. Greasy White Hair' over by the counter was when Lucy realized the true extent of Mira's power as the store owner and would-be referee of the evening. Her sweet smile turned into something she could only describe as demonic as the guy looked as if he might soil himself in terror – fleeing from the store rather quickly after Mira uttered something to him.

Despite the interruption, Gray managed to get the game back on track – with Salamander taking Luna up to a bedroom in the inn which he volunteered to pay for after knowing whatever gold she had was stolen and letting her sleep off the alcohol before they each retired to their own rooms.

What was bothering Lucy however was how up until that point in the game, she hadn't minded the audience so much. She didn't want to say that the obviously perverted man had scared her – that wasn't how she felt at all, not with all her friends around her, but the situation had left her feeling uneasy regardless.

Lucy had thought that just playing a fantasy game over the last month with her new friends was a fun activity. It was never overly serious, the atmosphere was mostly lighthearted and the whole pretending to be your character was a fun experience. Wasn't that how most people played it? Was what that guy was implying something that was expected in these games?

As the game continued, Lucy felt her desire to roleplay slip further and further as the evening went on. Gray did his best to continue on but the atmosphere felt off – the mood somewhat soiled.

At least they could return to their usual time slot next week.

* * *

As the clock neared eleven, much of the crowd had already dispersed. Their party had eventually made their move towards their next destination – a Dwarven city near the base of a mountain but the journey there itself would take a few sessions to complete (an estimation by Gray).

They restocked on supplies to add to on top of Erza's winnings and began an uneventful venture through an old forest when Gray decided to call it for the night.

Several of the remaining observers approached the table, thanking them for the enjoyable game with some throwing in a few comments of 'It was a nice change from Sabertooth' and 'I liked the pyromaniac in the group – he's funny'.

Erza and Gajeel were quick to leave – Erza giving her hair a gentle brush before she hurried out whilst muttering something about needing to make it to the train station on time. Whatever Erza had planned, it had the redhead completely oblivious about her usual offer to Lucy of driving her home.

Lucy was about to give Gray and Natsu a helping hand with packing up the game and returning all of the miniature buildings they had borrowed back to the store's supplies when Gray stopped her.

"It's fine, Lucy, go and talk to your friends, they're waiting on you." he said encouragingly, "Pyro and I have got this."

Natsu looked up at them both with miniatures in his hands, "What friends?" He asked with a confused expression as he looked around the room.

' _That's right,'_ Lucy thought. _'He arrived late and didn't see me arrive with Cana and Loke.'_

"My friends that came to watch us play tonight," Lucy explained, gesturing over to where Cana and Loke were standing a little way off near the front window of the store. "I'll go see how they are and then come back to help, okay?"

"It's fine, Lucy." Gray reiterated, "I actually needed to talk to you about something but I think it can wait as it's late."

Lucy wasn't sure what Gray needed to talk to her about exactly; at a guess, it would be about her character's backstory as that was something they still hadn't gotten a chance to speak about yet.

"What do you need to chat to her about?" Natsu asked, almost a little defensively Lucy noted: _'I'm probably just imagining it.'._

"None of your business, flame brain." Gray coldly responded.

Before Lucy could witness the inevitable argument between the two, especially with Erza not around to reign it in, Lucy slipped back away from the table to instead convene with her awaiting friends.

"Lucy! You finishhhed up over there?" Cana called out as she approached, her words slurring a little.

"Yeah, they've said they can pack up without me," Lucy replied, a little tired.

"You sure? They look like they're gonna beat each other up." Cana asked again, pointing at the two. Lucy looked behind her to see that Natsu and Gray were now both holding up their fists, their voices raised and several miniatures had been knocked over.

"They'll be fine," Lucy said. She was too worn out for their silly feuds at this hour.

"Well, I think you were splendid tonight, princess." Loke mused with a coy smile.

"Oh… thank you," Lucy replied, unsure how to take the compliment. "I'm still getting the hang of roleplaying – it's kind of like an improvised form of acting."

"It intrigued me if nothing else." Loke said, "I'm not sure I entirely get it but you looked like you were having fun."

"Yeahhhhh, and you didn't tell me the guys you play with are hotties!" Cana cut in with a wide smile, as she cast her gaze back at the table, "and you seem to get on _reallllllly_ well with Natsu."

Her face was entirely suggestive and Lucy sluggishly sighed at her.

"I'm going to nip to the restroom before we leave." Loke suddenly announced, distinctly sounding annoyed. Lucy supposed that he very well might be after tolerating Cana getting more and more intoxicated throughout the evening. What other reason would he have to be annoyed?

"I saw him give you that statue thing. It was cuuuuute!" Cana slurred, ignoring Loke as he temporarily left them to their conversation.

"Cana, it's a miniature and I don't think it was meant to be cute," Lucy answered her. She was thankful Cana didn't get to see her involuntarily blush from the angle she was sitting at when she received it earlier. Seriously, this woman was always trying to create a 'something' between people when there simply wasn't anything.

"I meant when you were trying to hug him, Lucy! That was cute as fu-"

Lucy didn't waste any time in hurriedly placing the palm of her hand over Cana's lips, "Cana, stop! Before someone hears you!" That someone being the man in question with the amazing hearing.

Cana mumbled something into Lucy's palm before going quiet, simply choosing to stare at her with an annoyed but definitely drunken look. Lucy released her palm and looked at her with a pleading expression.

"It was just a kind, friendly gesture, okay?!" Lucy stated, "Stop reading into things!"

Cana was silent for a moment before shrugging, "If you say so." She uttered, not really believing what Lucy was saying in the slightest. "I know him by the way. Sort of. I know all of them."

"W-what?" Lucy stuttered at her brunette friend.

"Yeah." Cana responded, suddenly sounding a little more sober, "Anyway. I had my eye on one of those card decks earlier and I think I'm gonna get one."

Cana sauntered off back to the counter which Lisanna was now manning, leaving Lucy a little dumbfounded by that little revelation. Oh, she would be getting answers but it would have to be later when Cana was completely sober and not making strange and awkward suggestions at her.

She and Natsu were _friends_ – he was obviously just being nice and wanting her to feel included in the game they played together – that _he_ introduced her to. There wasn't anything else there and he was clearly not her type. The pink hair – how many guys have pink hair? (It did look soft though despite its unruly look…) And he was loud and brash! Definitely not dating material! And yes, he looked like he was definitely well built – but all the guys did (maybe they had a shared gym membership or something…) Then there was his trademark smile that made her want t-

' _Ugh, why am I thinking about this?'_ Lucy asked herself.

Luckily for her, those blatantly-no-good chains of thoughts were broken by Mira who was approaching her with a soft, conciliatory expression.

"I'm sorry for earlier, Lucy." She kindly said, "That man's behavior earlier was completely unacceptable. You can be rest assured he won't be allowed back."

"Oh, um, it's okay. Thank you, Mira." Lucy answered shyly, "It wasn't your fault that the guy was like that."

"True, but I still feel responsible as it's both mine and my sibling's store. We sometimes get creepers like that come in here, unfortunately," she said sincerely, "Will you be getting home alright tonight?"

Despite Erza's quick exit, Lucy was grateful that she had Loke and Cana with her tonight. Mirajane may have scared the pants off that creepy guy but she would feel safer knowing she wouldn't be walking home by herself so late.

"I'll walk with you home." A warm, familiar voice interjected into their conversation.

Lucy turned to see that at, some point, Natsu had come over to where she and Mira were standing and had openly listened in on their short discussion. When she considered his sensitive hearing, she started wondering how much had he heard from Cana. That thought left her feeling instantly embarrassed.

Before Lucy could reply (which seemed to be happening to her a lot tonight), someone beat her to it.

Loke had returned from the restroom, coolly adjusting his glasses and tie as he approached them with confidence, "That's quite alright, I'll be making sure she gets home safely tonight."

All three of them turned to look at Loke whom, from his posture, was resolute in his offer. Well, it wasn't really an offer, Lucy thought. Natsu's was an offer – Loke's was a statement. She wasn't sure why Loke felt the need to say it, she had just assumed that she, Cana and him would all be walking back to hers together to talk about the evening before they both went home themselves.

Lucy returned to tell Natsu that while she was grateful that he was clearly concerned for her safety, her friends had it covered for her so she would be alright. However, when she looked up at him, he looked tense and was watching Loke with suspicious eyes.

"Hey, Natsu…" Lucy whispered at him, "It's fine, he's my friend. … Thanks for your offer though."

Natsu peered down at her, his gaze softened for a moment before he looked back at Loke with an unreadable expression on his face. "Yeah, alright," he muttered back to her a second later. Lucy couldn't be certain but Natsu didn't come across as 'alright' about it. He was certainly protective, in and out of the game, she'll give him that.

Cana promptly rejoined them, waving a couple of foiled card packs in her hand and looking fairly excited about it. As they prepared to leave together, Loke ushering them out the front door as Lucy waved and shouted goodbye to her D&D friends.

Lucy's final glance at Natsu earned her one of his smiles except for this time, she didn't particularly like it – for once, it didn't seem genuine.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think I'm going to be splitting my chapters up more into 'parts' when they get too long – even editing chapters that are 10,000 words long are a nightmare as editing usually adds another 1000 words at least. I'm sure that's a lot to read for you guys in one sitting. Sometimes I'm just not too sure when is a good point to round off a chapter so it will be a learning experience for me I think.
> 
> I also want to get better at relaying the emotions and feelings of the characters – rereading some of my chapters have made me wonder if I'm not putting enough emphasis on that or not. I'm definitely more of a person that prefers subtle interactions than grand gestures so maybe that's why? Yeah, I'm rambling…
> 
> Anyway, lovely readers, if you are hoping for a bit more NaLu, I think you'll like the next chapter :)


	10. Clueless

**Saturday Morning, August 29th**

When Natsu Dragneel finally decided to get up from sleeping in on his couch, it was already eleven in the morning. The time didn't bother him much, he'd always preferred sleeping in whenever he could – especially after the night he'd just had before when it was well past midnight when he finally fell asleep.

Something was bothering him and it was enough to mess with his ability to fall asleep easily. It wasn't often that it happened and so, unused to the feeling, he was left lying with a thin blanket on his couch and asking himself why he was suddenly feeling that particular way.

It wasn't really something he liked to do – to think about those things. It was annoying and it distracted him from thinking about better things. So he tried to hurry it up and remembered all the things that had irked him earlier in the day.

Work was boring, as usual. Gajeel was being a jerk, as usual. He didn't win that stupid drinking game in D&D. That guy who messed with Lucy's character… he should have kicked him to the curb himself. Then there was that other guy that Lucy called her friend. He didn't know why, but Natsu found that there was something about him that irritated him, despite not even knowing who he was! Now that was _really_ annoying.

Unable to place what was really bothering him, so he tossed and turned until he was finally just too tired to stay awake any longer.

It was a good thing that those annoyed feelings were gone when he finally woke up.

By the time he had willed himself through his morning rituals and just as he was munching on breakfast, it occurred to Natsu that today was the first Saturday in a long ass time with no D&D scheduled. That put him at a bit of a loss on how to spend his weekend.

As if out of instinct, he pulled out his phone and went about checking the D&D group chat, hoping that maybe something was happening despite that he had already pretty much forgotten about why Erza was not going to be available anyway.

To his surprise, there was a single message left for the rest of the group: a short apology from Lucy about leaving so quickly without 'properly' doing her part to tidy up the place.

Yeah, he knew Lucy was weird, always being worried about upsetting people he guessed, judging from her messages at least. Natsu didn't really get that, she should just be herself and not give a damn if others like it or not. He was glad at least that she had been really happy – and weird (why was she so weird?) when he gave her that miniature. He subconsciously smiled at the memory. He wasn't sure why'd she'd tried to grab him because that seemed like an awfully strange way to thank someone.

He'd ordered it after choosing the design himself and then painted it when it arrived at his place. Painting miniatures was something he enjoyed doing – especially monsters; they always had him imagining what it would be like to fight them.

Lucy was careful about not letting people see her character sheet once everyone in the group had helped her put it together a week ago, but he'd managed to get a glimpse enough times from sitting next to her to know a little bit about her character.

Looking at the chat again, there was a second message from Lucy that was left from around thirty minutes ago and it was the first he'd seen from her that wasn't related to D&D.

 **Lucy:** _Hey everyone! It feels o_ _dd_ _to not b_ _e playing_ _D &D tonight, does anyone want to do something else today? We could have another movie night! _

So far, she only had just the one response which was from Gray. Gajeel had seen it but had not replied. Erza was yet to see the messages; whatever she was doing was distracting her from her phone. Maybe she was sleeping in today too?

**Gray:** _Can't sorry, have plans today. Maybe another night?_

Natsu briefly wondered if Lucy still wanted to do something as it had been a little while since she'd asked. He didn't have anything to do himself this weekend and Lucy was fun to hang out with. Hell, she might even buy him snacks again – that was the best surprise ever.

He decided to reply and hope that she hadn't already decided to do something else.

**Natsu:** _wanna meet at the store lucy? im up for a movie and games and stuff_

As expected, he didn't get a reply immediately. Curiously though, he saw that she had read the message fairly quickly and was typing something – but then she would stop – and then start typing again – and then stop – and do this over and over. Just how hard was it to say yes or no?

He'd figured that if she said yes, they could hang out in the games room. He'll get her to play some video games and obviously he'd win every time _easily_. Then they could actually watch a movie that wasn't a stupid musical.

She still hadn't replied. He was getting impatient.

 **Natsu:** lucy?

He was going to head over to the store regardless he decided. Maybe Lisanna was free and she always liked playing video games with him – even if she was kinda bossy to be around.

Natsu grabbed his keys and wallet, made sure his scarf was secure around his neck and headed out.

It was another thirty minutes until Lucy finally responded.

**Lucy:** _Okay, I'll be there soon!_

' _Sheesh, what took her so long? At least she's gonna be there.'_ That thought alone was enough to put Natsu in a better mood.

It always took him a little while to walk over to the store – something he had just learned to deal with when he took every opportunity to avoid vehicles of any kind. He wasn't particularly worried either about having to take some then less scrupulous routes to get where he needed to be as he was fairly confident he could handle anyone that wanted to mess with him.

When he finally arrived, he was hit by the scent of 'home' as he walked in. It was quiet – as expected at around lunch time (he was already feeling kinda hungry he noticed) and he was quickly greeted by Lisanna who was looking very cheery.

"Hey, Lisanna. How's it goin'?" Natsu asked, already feeling a little more chilled at to just be at his favorite place.

"I'm good today! What about you- are you on your own?" she asked, peering over his shoulder and scanning for any of his friends.

"Yeah, and I'm hungry too," he answered, patting his stomach.

"Oh, do you want me to ring you up some snacks?" She asked, her face lighting up a little, "I'm actually going to take a break soon, we could eat together if you wanted?"

The way Lisanna was looking at him was unusual for her, Natsu thought. She was looking really hopeful about it as if she really didn't want him to say no. Then again, why would he? She was his friend was she not?

"Sounds great but uh, actually, I was thinking of orderin' a pizza."

She was looking at him even more unusually now. … Was it that weird to want a pizza for lunch?

"A pizza, Natsu? You want to order a pizza to the store?" she questioned as if she didn't quite hear him correctly the first time.

"Yeah?" He confirmed for her, "We can share it and Lucy can have some too – oh wait, maybe we need more than a couple of pizzas then-"

"Wait- Lucy's coming over too?" Lisanna interjected, looking suddenly very taken aback from what he had just said.

Natsu raised a quizzical eyebrow at her. Maybe Lisanna thought Lucy was weird too? Yeah, that had to be it.

"Yep, so do you wanna play some games and stuff?" he replied to her, "Y'know, whilst we wait for the pizzas."

Lisanna didn't immediately answer him, instead, her eyes narrowed towards him. Then she looked away for a moment before looking back at him again looking really confused. Was there something funny in the air today? He hadn't smelled anything yet but after Lucy's weirdness, Lisanna was the next woman in the same day to be acting really strangely.

"Yeah… Natsu, we can play some games for a bit." She finally said, looking away but suddenly looking even more dejected than before. Did she not want to play? Or was this about the pizza? She said yes to the games but seemed apprehensive about the pizza… so that must have been it!

"Uh, you don't have to have pizza if you don't want it. You can have somethin' else." Natsu said, feeling a bit bad about it. He shouldn't have assumed she liked pizza.

This seemed to break Lisanna out of whatever it was she was feeling down about. She peered up in a way that suggested she was trying to discern what he had just said. She finally answered after a moment, "What? Oh no, pizza is fine but I'm not sure Mira wants you ordering food to our store."

"Oh. I figured it'd be okay." Natsu said, quickly feeling disappointed. He wanted to comment that Elfman had let him do in the past but maybe that had just been a one-time thing.

"But!" Lisanna suddenly announced, suddenly looking a little more positive, "I'm a co-owner and I think I'll allow it – as long as one of the pizzas has pineapple as a topping, that's my only condition!"

Natsu begrudgingly agreed. He was thinking of ordering two pizzas with every meat topping available and that would have been fine but if pineapple is what it takes for Lisanna to let him order…

He went about ordering the pizzas – he went with '8-Island': they weren't a pizzeria or anything, just a great restaurant with awesome food which was run by a friend of Gramps. Natsu briefly wondered how the old man was doing, he hadn't seen him in months.

"Hey, so when is Lucy getting here?" Lisanna asked as he was ordering through the app on his phone.

He didn't look up at her, it was more important to make sure the pizza he wanted to have those BBQ chicken pieces he really liked.

"Soon I think." He muttered, eyes lighting up when he noticed that a new topping: extra spicy pepperoni had recently been added to the menu. Yep, that was going onto the pizza for sure.

"So, shall we go, um… play a few games… just you and me for a bit?" She tentatively asked, twiddling her fingers uncomfortably to the side, "til' Lucy or the pizzas show up that is!"

Natsu had to type in the address of the store into the app of course, but his card details were already saved. It was only when the order went through that he mentally cursed himself. It slipped his mind but he should have checked to see if Lucy would have been okay with those pizza choices!

Remembering that Lisanna was in fact, right beside him and looking at him in that strange, hopeful way again, it occurred to him that he had no idea what she had just said, "Huh, what was that Lisanna?"

"Oh… I was just asking if you wanted to go play video games for a bit? Kind of like old times back in school, remember?" She said quietly, almost as if she were afraid all of a sudden.

He racked his brain for what she meant – they hadn't hung out in school _that_ much – it was mostly when they were younger and…  
"Huh… Oh yeah! We were teamed up to play that awesome cat game on the school computers! I remember!"

She seemed to breathe a small sigh of relief. Strange.

"I was worried you'd forgotten! We adopted that weird-looking cat together! It was cute wasn't it?" Lisanna chirped back, looking a lot more elated now. Seriously, what was up with her today?

"Yeah, sure was! I remember that we called it 'Happy'." Natsu commented, thinking back to the game. It was old, with pixel-like graphics but you could adopt a cat or a dog. They must have been like, maybe ten years old when they were paired up to play that in the computer labs. Honestly, he didn't remember much other than it made him really want to have a pet cat one day.

"So we gonna go play some then?" Natsu finally asked, his brief trip down memory lane over, "We could play Crash Team Racing or something – you like that one don't you?"

Lisanna nodded and ran off to tell her sister that she was going to go take her lunch break. Natsu left her to it so he could head on down to set up the game and wait for those pizzas. His mouth was already watering thinking about them.

When he descended to the basement level, the games room was awaiting him and he grabbed a few of the controllers for the PlayStation. After rummaging around for the disc for CTR, (people never put them back in the right boxes) he slipped it in and booted up the game. Lisanna had joined him with a couple of drinks in her grasp by the time the game had loaded.

"Ya forgot a drink!" Natsu reminded her, gesturing to the two bottled colas on the table.

Lisanna looked at him curiously before looking at the drinks, not understanding what he meant.

"For Lucy?" He reminded her.

Lisanna fidgeted for a moment, looking at him incredulously and he could have sworn she looked a bit annoyed with him, "I'll see if she wants one when she gets here."

That made sense; Lucy wouldn't want a warm cola.

Lisanna scooted over and he handed her a controller. They played a few tracks with split-screen and he had to admit that she wasn't too bad at the game, but he won each time regardless. It wasn't his favorite game by far, it was more of something he occasionally saw Wendy and Romeo playing, but it could be fun with friends. By the third match, he was peering over his shoulder to the stairs, wondering where Lucy was. He was pretty sure the pizzas would be here soon and he didn't want her to be eating cold slices.

"Hey… Natsu?" Lisanna suddenly spoke up, sounding a little hesitant.

"Yeah?"

"Would you ever wan-"

Lisanna didn't get a chance to finish that question as there was a sudden, loud and distinctly feminine yell of his name from the floor above them.

Without really thinking, Natsu leapt to his feet, abandoning the game and dashed to go find the cause. If someone was in danger – was the store being robbed? Or was it Lucy? Did that guy come back? Several scenarios ran through his mind in a blink of a second.

To his surprise, when reaching the shop floor and peering round, he was merely met with the agitated face of Mirajane, holding two, large, steaming hot pizza boxes.

"Natsu, did you seriously order food to my store?" She asked him in a way that was _almost_ as scary as Erza could be.

"Lisanna said it was okay!" He blurted out her before he got to see her fury, "We're gonna eat 'em together downstairs!"

Mirajane's face immediately softened as she studied him for a few seconds, "She did? … well, I guess that's okay then!"

Natsu didn't catch that Mirajane looked rather gleeful about that as his focus was behind her, over by the shop window where he caught a familiar flash of soft, golden locks.

"Thanks, Mira!" He almost yelled, ignoring the woman's further words (something about not making a mess or the like) as he dashed towards the entrance, unknowingly lighting up when the owner of the sunny golden hair was in fact, Lucy.

"Lucy!" He shouted, not realizing how loud he was being and causing the blonde to jump as she entered through the door, completely taken aback at seeing him there, evidently waiting for her.

"Natsu!" She yelped, "What the? Were you waiting at the door or something?!"

"Nah! I saw your hair in the window and came to greet ya!"

"… Were you just hanging around or something?

"No, Mira was telling me that- the pizzas!" Natsu yelled, almost forgetting entirely about the pizzas for a moment and dashing back to where Mirajane was standing, still with the two boxes and looking perplexed by what was going on.

"What pizzas?!" Lucy cried out, looking utterly lost as to what was going on too.

"Sheesh, stop yelling, you're so loud!" Natsu yelled back at her.

"I'm being loud?!" Lucy rebuked… loudly.

Natsu collected the pizza boxes from Mirajane and he could almost taste the meaty toppings as the pizzas got closer to his sensitive nose.

"Natsu-" She began to say,

"Yeah, yeah, don't make a mess, gotcha." Natsu grumbled back at her, already making his way back towards the basement. He paused by the door down and peered back towards Lucy who was still standing by the entrance, unmoving, mouth partially agape.

"Lucy!" Natsu called out to her before he took the stairs down, "You coming or not?"

That seemed to break her from her daze and she gingerly made her way towards him.

' _Damn, what's with everyone today?'_ He thought, with thoughts of delicious pizza firmly back in mind. _'At least Lucy finally turned up.'_

* * *

So it turns out that Lucy, being the weirdo that she is, actually _likes_ pineapple on her pizza. Natsu wasn't quite sure on how to take in this new information about her as she and Lisanna sat happily talking together on the couch, nibbling at their respective slices.

He was more than content with his meat pizza – sliced sausage, chicken, bacon, that spicy pepperoni really gave it a nice kick.

After he had devoured the entirety of his pizza, savoring the crusts too, he leaned forwards to grab one of the pineapple and ham slices from the other box, earning himself astonished expressions from the girls.

"What?" he asked them as he took a large bite.

Neither of the women said anything, instead choosing to wipe off their hands with some paper napkins that Lisanna had brought down and then picking up the controllers.

"Right, let's play!" Lucy declared to her.

"You're on!" Lisanna retorted, rising to the challenge.

Natsu sat up from his spot in the armchair immediately, trying to stuff the last of the pizza slice into his mouth whilst simultaneously telling the two to wait for him. He wasn't about to let them leave him out of this. He plowed forward, planting himself on the couch, knocking himself into Lucy and pushing her over towards the middle so he could grab a controller to play too.

After some scolding from both of them which he went about ignoring, they were soon playing several more rounds of Crash Team Racing. At first, Lucy was really bad – laughably so. She kept driving into things, missing obvious stuff and not making any of the jumps at all. Every time he laughed, she nudged him aggressively, almost causing him to lose control of his own character (Spyro of course, what else?) and in turn, causing Lisanna to win.

However, Lucy was a fast learner – much like in D&D and soon she was able to keep up with them. He thought about letting her win one for once but… well, he just liked winning too damn much.

Before long, Lisanna announced she needed to get back to work with a reluctant smile.

Natsu decided he would play one more round with Lucy before looking for a movie that they had agreed to watch. She almost beat him that time.

Seeing the disappointment on her face at losing once again unsettled him. He didn't like it at all. It was similar to the night before when that pervert in the crowd was being mean to her. He'd thought about it and a worry had crossed his mind that the guy might have scared Lucy off from coming back to the store for good.

That thought alone bothered him a lot. Lucy was a member of the Fairy Tail group now – she had her character, her dice, her miniature and as far as he knew, everyone liked her. If she didn't want to play with them anymore – he'd do his damn best to convince her to stay. She might have turned up to play games now but maybe he ought to check just to be sure…

"Say… Lucy."

"Hm?" She hummed, as she put down the controller and turned to him.

"You're not gonna quit D&D are you?" Natsu asked, scratching the back of his neck apprehensively.

"W-what?!" She exclaimed as her eyebrows narrowed in confusion, her body recoiling a little as her blonde ponytail fell loosely to her side, "No! Why would you think that?"

"I was hopin' that the guy didn't scare ya off last night or nothin'," he answered, almost sheepishly. Was it that dumb to think that could have been a possibility?

He observed Lucy as she fell quiet, looking away from him for a second before looking back defensively at him.

"I… I can take care of myself, Natsu. I'm not going to stop playing because… I'm part of the group now, right?" she stammered. He could tell that she was looking uncomfortable as if she were really unsure of herself.

Hell yeah, she was part of the group – the best group even!

"Right!" He beamed back. She needed to be assured and he had no problem with that, "You're one of us, whether ya like it or not. You can't leave now!" he was jokingly mostly. She could leave if she really, _really_ wanted to but he would try and get her back in any way that he could – well, without being a creep of course.

"… And you gave me that miniature so I can hardly quit now, can I?" She teased, her lips forming into a cute smile before she paused, suddenly looking deep in thought, "… Which reminds me- I've been meaning to ask…"

"Yeah?"

"My friend Cana… she said she knows everyone here. Vaguely at least."

"Cana? Hmm." He recognized the name – he hadn't heard it in years. Someone that knew everyone in the Fairy Tail D&D group? It wasn't the name of someone who had ever played with them…

"She was the woman with me last night – with the brown hair," Lucy said, her doe-like eyes sparkling with curiosity. Unfortunately, he didn't really have any answers for her. "She said she had shared some classes with you all at school a few years ago."

Natsu frowned a little at thinking back to those days. Sure, he'd made some great friends but there had been so much other shit that happened as well, "… I didn't really pay much attention in school if I'm honest, Lucy."

He could have sworn she might have scowled a little at that.

"Why not?" She asked, sounding a little annoyed.

Natsu was honest with her if nothing else, "I dunno, all that studying and learning… it was boring." There was the other stuff too but she didn't need to know about that right now.

"But it was important!" she protested, shocking him a little. Was school really that important to her or something? He knew she attended college and all but he didn't think she'd be annoyed over his opinion on education of all things.

"Says who? It's not like I was ever going to go to any fancy college or nothin'." He challenged her. _'_ _Studying to study some more? Yeah, no thanks.'_ He'd find something to do that he actually liked eventually.

Lucy kind of just sat there, however, fidgeting as she does sometimes as well as being all shy and he always got the feeling she wanted to say something but held back for some reason or another. It was like she had trained herself to avoid confrontations by just keeping quiet. That didn't sit right with him- she should say what she needs to say.

"Something wrong?" He asked, hoping she might keep on talking.

She gulped and soon looked at him directly, "No. It's just that studying was always really important to me."

Natsu was happy that her sudden weird quietness passed; it didn't suit her in his opinion. Still, liking studying? "That's because you're weird. How could that ever be fun?" he replied, enjoying the way he could tease her a little.

To his satisfaction, it worked.

"I'm not weird, you're weird!" she proclaimed, nudging him as she liked to do when she got annoyed.

"Nah, you're definitely the weird one." He reaffirmed, grinning at her increasingly agitated facial expressions.

She scoffed at him, choosing to look away and taking a swig of what was left of her bottled cola instead.

Not wanting to end the conversation entirely, Natsu thought it best to tell her what was enjoyable at least: "I did like one thing in school though." He idly commented.

"Let me guess? Sports?" She said with a somewhat bitter edge to her tone.

"Well doing sports wasn't bad, especially when I got to kick Gray's ass, but no, I meant D&D!"

"You played D&D in school?"

"It was my second year of high school, Gray had just gotten permission from Gramps – he was the principal that always refused to retire – to set up a D&D club," Natsu sat up, craning his head as he tried to remember how it all went down, "I didn't know what it was at the time but soon as Gray mentioned dragons-"

"You joined straight away?" Lucy finished for him with a warm smile that he liked seeing on her.

"Yeah! And it was confusing at first, my first character died really quick. It was me, Gray, his brother, Alzack… Erza invited herself to join when she noticed me and Gray weren't fightin' as much anymore."

"How is it that Erza has so much power over you two anyway?"

"You've seen her, Lucy! She's scary and way stronger than she looks! She was a year older than us too so when she graduated, we had to start playin' over at Gray's house – that's before something happened to his mom though."

It was something that had irrevocably changed Gray forever in his eyes, not that he could blame him in the slightest for it. The final year of school was hard on him- hard on them all even. Hell if he was going to tell Lucy about that now – Gray should have the choice on that and even then, even if Lucy was a member of Fairy Tail, it was not something that you could just bring up in idle conversation.

Lucy must have noticed his change in demeanor as she didn't ask any questions but went silent instead. Natsu wasn't sure what to say next.

"I'm glad you asked me to play D&D that day…" Lucy suddenly said, with a certain softness in her voice and uncertainty about what she was saying, "It's helped me a lot."

Now he was curious, "Yeah?"

"… With my book!" She confirmed quickly, "I… er, want to be a novelist one day. I want to write a fantasy story."

Maybe he didn't like to read books- comics and manga being the only closest things to it, but the thought of her writing an epic story that may have been inspired by their D&D adventures? "That's awesome, Lucy!" he almost yelled with the biggest smile on his face.

"You think so?"

He sat up excitedly, thinking about all the things she could write about, "Yeah! Is it going to have dragons in it? Come on, it has to have dragons!"

" _Maybe_. I haven't decided yet." She said coyly as if it to wind him up. It was sorta working.

"Oh yeah, we were gonna watch a movie, right?" Natsu suddenly remembered, sitting up and looking over to the bookshelf where the blue-ray cases were roughly stacked up.

"Yep, is there something you had in mind, Natsu?"

"No musicals." He deadpanned.

She laughed a little, "Okay, no musicals."

"Is there something you haven't seen yet?" Natsu asked as he got up and inspected the available selection on the shelves.

"Well…" She began, hesitant and looking quickly downcast. Man, her moods were temperamental.

"We've got a lot to pick from… I've seen most of these but I don't mind re-watching something I haven't seen in a while." Natsu commented, putting the not-so-entertaining choices to the back of the pile.

He peered back at Lucy who was still looking away from him and avoiding eye contact. Natsu hadn't the foggiest idea what was bothering her this time.

"It's just that I haven't seen a lot of movies…" She uttered quietly but he had no issues in hearing her at all, "I didn't get to watch a lot of TV growing up."

Natsu had to do a double-take – she hadn't seen a lot of movies in her life? Her upbringing must have been weird – that's why she's such a weirdo!

"You… didn't watch movies?" He had to ask, just be sure he was hearing her correctly.

"I saw some… but my dad… wasn't a fan." She spoke softly, sadly. One minute, she could be filled with confidence and nudging him to get an edge in a video game and in the next, she could be like this. Natsu wasn't entirely sure he got her mood changes at all.

"But I had my books!" she quickly announced, suddenly sitting upright and looking a little happier, "So it wasn't all bad!"

That's right, he remembered that she said she'd read fantasy books like Lord of the R-

' _She's probably never seen the movies!'_

"Hey, Lucy?" He called out whilst pushing away cases, knowing exactly what to look for, "You've read Tolkien's stuff, right?"

Natsu thought it best to be sure, just in case his memory wasn't right.

"Yes, they're literature classics, even outside of the fantasy genre. Why do you ask?"

"Because!" He said excitedly, turning around with the blue-ray he was looking for, "We're gonna watch this!"

In his hand, he held up a copy of 'The Fellowship of the Ring', the first of the Lord of the Rings trilogy. It would be perfect for her if she really liked reading the books that much.

She stared between him and the case for a moment and Natsu wasn't sure if she was gonna say yes. There was always the chance she had already seen it. Maybe she just wasn't in the mood for this kinda movie but he didn't think he was wrong.

"So whaddya say? You in?" Natsu asked, shaking the case lightly but eagerly.

As if miraculously finding her voice again, she answered him, "...Y-yeah."

"You're gonna love it, Lucy. It's gettin' kinda old but it still holds up great today," he said, leaping forwards and hastily popping the disc into the PlayStation. It was a long movie though and he was going to make sure they were gonna see the extended edition, "I'm gonna get snacks from Mira, want anything?"

Lucy sat up with the look of disbelief in her eyes, "But you just ate a whole pizza!"

Natsu shrugged, "So?"

She blinked at him as if she hadn't heard him right, "Are you still hungry?" she asked.

"Nah, but it's a long movie so we're gonna need snacks!" he answered her, getting up and heading towards the stairs, "So did ya want anythin'?"

"...Uh, no, I'm quite full."

It didn't take long for Natsu to grab a small selection of snacks – chips, a large bag of popcorn, some candy, a few drinks, nothing too extreme. Mirajane looked only too happy to sell him everything he picked up. Lisanna on the other hand was putting some merch out on the shelves and she didn't seem as nearly as cheerful as she was earlier.

' _I guess that's what happens when you want pineapple on your pizza.'_ he thought to himself.

Natsu returned to Lucy after a few minutes and she didn't say much about his snack selection. He soon started up the movie to its epic intro and Lucy sat back into the couch, looking relaxed. He did the same and soon everything just felt 'kinda nice'. He wasn't really sure how he'd describe the feeling.

They were a good hour in with idle bouts of chatter about the actors or the setting. Lucy seemed to enjoy it so far. They were at the point in the movie where the fellowship was being formed that she turned to face him:

"Natsu, I'm feeling a little cold. Is it okay if I use one of those blankets?" she asked, pointing to the haphazardly folded fleece blankets on one of the shelves.

"Huh? Yeah, sure. Lemme grab one so ya don't miss anything." He replied.

He grabbed the blanket sitting at the top of the pile – it was a bit used but still big and soft. Natsu sat back down with it, chucking some of it over Lucy, covering her head for a brief second which earned him a cute pout which he snickered at.

She settled the blanket around her, pulling it up over her shoulders and making herself look really snug.

There was a lot of leftover blanket though and Natsu kind of wanted to feel just as snug too so he grabbed the bit of blanket that wasn't on Lucy and draped it over himself.

He had to sit a bit closer to her but that was fine, she probably wouldn't mind.

To his surprise, she seemed to tense for a moment before relaxing again after a little bit. It seemed like it was just the usual Lucy weirdness.

They carried on watching the movie – he occasionally spilled chips onto the blanket and crumbs got everywhere but he didn't really care. Lucy didn't get too jumpy or scared or nothing at some of the scenes. _'_ _P_ _robably cause she knows_ _what happens in the books._ _'_

After a few hours, the movie finally came to its end.

"So, whaddya think?" Natsu asked, keen to hear her thoughts as the credits rolled.

"It's a very good adaption." Lucy answered, "Although there are some parts in the books that aren't in the movie but I guess that's to be expected."

"You're saying there's more?!"

"Yep. The movie didn't have Tom Bombadil for example. … I wonder why that was."

"Who?"

"Um, he's like a forest protector near the start of the book- have you never thought about reading the books yourself, Natsu?"

"Nope." He answered plainly, hoping she wasn't going to press the issue.

"Why not?" she asked him sincerely.

Natsu wasn't sure if he really wanted to explain why. It was all kinda depressing in his eyes when he remembered the way his teacher back in school made it sound at the time.  
He was never a fan of dealing with that kind of emotions. Live for now and for the future was what he lived by.

But the way Lucy was looking at him – her big brown eyes wide with interest and as well as something he didn't really know how to explain. It was like… he couldn't _not_ tell her.

He cleared his throat, "I have… uh, what did they call it? Dysentery?"

She gasped, "Say what?!"

Come to think of it, that word didn't sound right, "… Nope, that's not it."

"Thank the stars for that…"

"Dys-literary? Is that a word?"

"Do you mean 'dyslexia', Natsu?"

"Yeah! That's it."

Lucy sat quietly after that. Natsu wasn't sure what he was supposed to say. Reading and writing weren't things he ever really liked – the words never looked right and sometimes he skipped words and it was all just a pain to deal with.

He thought back to his teacher, Mr Gaebolg -and it made him snort a little too when he remembered the nicknames the students gave him for it. But that old geezer implied that he wouldn't get anywhere in life with that little label of 'dyslexia'. It sucked to hear. He probably wasn't the only one that teacher was an ass to – everyone started calling him Hades after a while.

Natsu remembered getting the old fart back though – he could never prove that it was him that set his desk on fire after all.

"Natsu?" Lucy's voice called which broke him away from those less than stellar memories (minus the fire one – that was great).

"Eh?"

"I can always-" she cut off the rest of the sentence abruptly as they both turned to the sound of someone making their way down the spiral metal stairs. Natsu could already tell that it was Lisanna – she always wore an exotic smelling perfume – like something outta a jungle. It was a bit overpowering at times but he knew it was hers easily.

The girl in question called out to them, announcing her presence as she reached the bottom of the steps, but her eyes narrowed as soon as she saw them. Had he done something else wrong now? Damn, he just couldn't catch a break today.

Her focus seemed to dart between him and Lucy, sitting on the couch together as the PlayStation hummed in the background. What was unusual about that?

"Oh, I was just cold!" Lucy protested suddenly, sitting up and pushing away the fleece blanket they had both been sitting under.

Did Lisanna really like the blanket or something? Was she annoyed they'd used it? A quick glimpse at Lucy and she looked embarrassed for some reason – her cheeks turning the same color as his hair.

"I see… Natsu?" Lisanna answered, "Do you mind coming to help lift something? Elfman's not here today and it's really heavy."

Natsu jumped to his feet immediately, letting the rest of the blanket drop to the floor, "Yeah, sure." Before he followed her as she trotted back upstairs, thinking that Lisanna was just annoyed about the blanket, he went about picking it up and dropping it to the couch so it wasn't lying on the floor.

"Back in a bit, Lucy." He said as he passed her but she stayed oddly quiet.

Watching that movie with her had been fun, really fun. He'd seen it plenty of times in the past but she didn't seem to mind his idle commentary or when he munched on chips – something everybody else always complained about. Maybe she was trying to just be nice, but he had a feeling that she was just genuinely super nice.

The next movie was even better than the first in his opinion – lots more battles! Thinking about it, he'd figured he'd ask Lucy to watch it when he was done with helping Lisanna with whatever it was. They'd been there down there a while sure, but it was what? Only six in the evening? They could fit another movie in.

He'd better bring down some more snacks, just in case.

* * *

Lucy meanwhile, was feeling very, very awkward.

The movie had been really enjoyable and it made her wonder what the rest of the adaptions would be like. She was fully immersed and actually liked some of the small changes from the books – even if she was more in the camp of 'the books are always better'. It wasn't like she had a repertoire of movies to compare them to.

Everything was great until she'd started getting a bit chilly. It was only late August but for whatever reason, the basement felt cold to her. When she noticed the blankets, she had figured that's why they were down there and had no qualms in asking Natsu if she could use one.

She hadn't expected Natsu to share the same blanket with her on the couch.

Not that she could complain too much – he was warming it up to a temperature that was just perfect for her. She didn't have it in her to get a separate blanket after wanting to relish some of that warmth. Surely he had a trick to having a higher body temperature without actually being feverish?

Whatever it was, she sinfully liked it… until Lisanna saw them and her expression suggested that she may have thought they had looked a little too cozy. She had clearly the wrong idea but Lucy wasn't sure what to say to the girl who may or may not have a thing for Natsu.

It didn't help that Cana was now texting her asking 'How is the date night was going?'.

**Lucy:** _For the last time, it's not a date!_

She had barely finished messaging her back before loud banging came from the stairs – the obvious sound of Natsu unceremoniously making his way back down the steps.

A quick glimpse revealed that was definitely the case with the addition that he was now laden with yet more food in his arms.

"Lucy! Wanna watch the next movie?" he mostly shouted as he barged forward, dumping all the snacks onto the coffee table.

' _Really? Another movie so soon?'_ Not that she secretly minded of course…

All further thoughts on that were put to a halt when her phone began ringing in her fingertips.

' _Now what did Cana want?'_

Lucy was about to cancel the call so she could answer an eager and smiling Natsu when she caught sight of the caller ID.

It was her father.

' _Was this because I didn't respond to his messages this morning?'_

Looking pained as Natsu's expression seem to turn from happy to impatient fairly quickly, she grimaced, "Sorry, I'm going to have to take this."

"Sure," Natsu answered, sitting down and already shifting the blanket back onto himself, leaving some for her. He really was clueless about how they looked together under that thing.

"Back in a minute," Lucy said, quickly dashing up the stairs behind her to get to the restroom. If she was to speak to her father – she would prefer it to be in private. She knew from previous experiences that this wasn't always the nicest of conversations to be privy to.

As expected, her father cut the call off before she could get to the restroom in time but he was quick to retry again; a sign that whatever he wanted was important to him.

It was her fault that she didn't bother reading what he had messaged her earlier; Cana had stayed over last night and she wasn't in the mood to deal with whatever he had messaged her this time whilst she was there.

Answering the call with a steady but steeled breath, she prepared herself for whatever her dad had to say.

"Hello, dad." Lucy greeted, barely hiding the irritation in her attempts to maintain civility.

" _Lucy! It's about time! Haven't you seen the emails I sent you yet? I thought you were more punctual than that-"_

"Sorry dad, I've been busy- I still am actually. What is it?"

" _I don't see what can possibly be so time-consuming that it would distract you from responding to your own father but we can discuss that later."_

Lucy grit her teeth.

" _I'm in Magnolia – a business meeting was rescheduled here at the last moment and I would like to have dinner with you this evening."_

"Dad, I already told you I'm busy and-"

" _I would ask unless this was important to me, Lucy."_ Her father sternly stated to her with the undertone that Lucy hated; the one where he attempted to make her feel guilty for the smallest things.

"I-" She began.

" _I also haven't seen you since the spring and would like to see how you are doing in this '_ _quaint'_ _little town of yours."_ Lucy rolled her eyes. He had made it no little secret that he had thought Magnolia as a bit of a backwater place. There were no big cooperate offices here, no major transport links to other cities and international destinations.

"It's just that-" Yet again, she was cut off.

" _Please, Lucy?"_

When her father resorted to asking her politely instead of requesting or demanding, she knew it wasn't wise to decline him. She knew there would be consequences. She wasn't even sure what he could even do now – she was renting her own place, living off of her own funds without a penny from him and attending a college that she had applied to herself. There would be no doubt that he would find something to punish her with if she dared say no and she didn't dare to think what that could be.

"Fine. Where is it that you want to meet?" She asked, barely hiding her reluctance and if he noticed, he didn't care.

" _I'll email you the details. Please dress appropriately."_

"Okay, I will see y-"

The phone beeped as the call was cut off. Lucy wasn't even surprised that he hadn't bothered to say goodbye. To demand her attend dinner with him could only mean that he had something related to business in mind and she had doubts it was out of interest for her new life here in Magnolia.

Lucy let out one long sigh. Now she had to go tell Natsu that she had to leave.

Remembering sitting under that warm blanket, guiltily siphoning some of his heat and watching the next installment of The Lord of the Rings with him; that was so much preferable than a meal with her good old dad. More than preferable actually.

She took a moment to recompose herself and calm down. Her phone's email alert rang out; most likely the details her father had sent; it probably included a list of demands too.

Lucy made her way back to the basement where Natsu was sitting, still with the blanket and snacking on some chips as he appeared to be browsing through his phone.

"Hey." She greeted somberly.

He sat up immediately, "Hey, all good?" he asked.

"Actually… I have to go. It's my dad and… it's important." She couldn't hide that she certainly wasn't happy about it at all. Whether it was actually 'important' was another matter but it didn't change the fact that she still had to go.

"Oh." Natsu simply said, the disappointment on his face plain to see.

"I'm sorry," Lucy uttered, not really enjoying the fact in the slightest that she had to let him down.

"But we're definitely gonna watch the next one soon!" Natsu suddenly declared, all traces of disappointment leaving him as he smiled at her in that way that did funny things to her stomach.

"Y-yeah, we will!" She hastily agreed, feeling a little more hopeful that they could continue this little unplanned marathon another time.

That was something that she wanted for sure.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Writing a clueless Natsu is fun! I bet some of you lot were worried I'd trolled you all into some NaLi action for a moment there, huh?
> 
> *There's not a lot of info out there about what Lisanna likes and dislikes so I just made her a pineapple pizza fan.
> 
> **I've never played CTR – I'm more of a PC gamer myself.
> 
> ***I'm estimating this fic will now be around 30-35 chapters long?
> 
> Next chapter: Lucy meets with her father and Juvia makes a reappearance!


	11. Kings and Ice Cream

**Saturday Evening, August 29th**

It was eight in the evening by the time Lucy arrived at the restaurant her father had requested she attend. To no surprise, Lucy had barely made it home and changed her clothing before a taxi was awaiting her outside her apartment – ordered by her father no less.

She was hoping that her father wasn't in the mood to criticize her choice of dress that evening. She had left behind a lot of her 'finer' and more elegant choices of attire when she had left Crocus, seeing no use for such outfits and wanting to fit in with everybody else around her. Perhaps her choice of a black and gold cocktail dress with only a little amount of cleavage on show would be acceptable to him but she had her doubts about that.

The restaurant itself was one of Magnolia's more upper-class establishments, catering to the affluent families and business professionals in the town. Lucy had occasionally passed it during her time in Magnolia but still recognized it for what it was – a sad memory of a home that she had no intentions of returning to and thus avoided it.

She entered the restaurant and tried to remember how to walk gracefully as she had been taught to when growing up. The waiter at the podium, dressed in black tie of course, eyed her carefully, no doubt judging her attire she had picked for the evening.

"H-Heartfilia." Lucy stammered, feeling a little ashamed that she was nervous about saying her own surname, "My father, he made a reservation..."

The waiter cleared his throat awkwardly before nodding, his face suddenly emotionless, "Certainly. Right this way, ma'am."

Lucy was led towards the back of the restaurant, passing the tables of folk also dressed in fine evening wear, from tailored suits to fur coats, delicate lace to diamante stones. Their meals were distinctly ' _haute cuisine'_ – something else Lucy was glad to have left behind.

Her father was no different from them: dressed just as formally and sitting proudly at one of the more desirable tables near one of the elegant back windows, overlooking a small garden of autumnal cherry blossom trees.

He didn't raise his head to look at her as the waiter pulled out a chair for Lucy to take her seat and choosing instead, to continue to browse the menu in his palms. Lucy knew better than to speak before him if she didn't want another one of his lectures on proper mannerisms and etiquette – even if they were sexist and dated.

Instead, she waited for the waiter to return with a menu for her. She thanked him quietly as he poured her a glass of water from the glass jug on the table. Lucy began to browse the menu, (one that listed no prices she noted) but she was uncertain as to whether her father desired several courses or not. She also briefly wondered whether she should stick to the healthier, lighter choices lest he made a comment on how certain meals weren't suitable for young, unmarried ladies. It all sounded ridiculous to Lucy of course, but her father's temper was something she would rather not witness again.

Deciding that covering all bases would be the best course of action, Lucy opted for choosing a soup for her starter and the Halibut Meunière as the main course as well as deeming them acceptable options.

She wasn't even hungry after the pizza slices she had for lunch and the snacks she had munched on all throughout the day as she spent her time with Natsu in the games room. What she wouldn't give to be back there, watching the next film and relaxing as if she didn't have a care in the world.

She pondered on what Natsu had got up to once she had left. Perhaps he had gone back to playing with Lisanna or gone on ahead to watch the movie without her. Her face cringed a little at the thought. She hoped that wasn't the case – as selfish as it sounded. It actually felt a little painful even to think about although she assumed that was more likely from the stress of having to meet her father at such late notice.

When Lucy put down the menu to observe her father, he was now perusing the wine menu and speaking quietly to the waiter about the different vintages. She could only sit and wait, taking silent, unnoticeable breathing exercises in order to cope with whatever he intended to discuss with her that evening.

With the wine eventually ordered, her father finally turned to her,

"Lucy, what have you chosen for starters?" He asked politely with next to no emotion in his deep voice as the waiter stood by, waiting to hear her order. If her father had anything to say about her choice of dress, he kept silent about it.

"I'll take the bisque, father," Lucy answered, offering an equally polite, emotionless response.

"Very well, a bisque for the lady if you will," her father confirmed for the waiter, "and for your main course, Lucy?"

"The halibut, father."

"Pronounce it properly, Lucy."

Lucy lightly bit her bottom lip. She wasn't a child anymore and yet he still treated her as such.

"Halibut Meunière," she responded with just an edge of frustration in her voice.

The waiter soon left them to fetch the wine and Lucy sat quietly opposite her father until then. She found the uncomfortable silence awkward and almost stifling, anxiety pulsing at her as she just wanted to know why her father wanted her here so badly. Once the waiter returned and her father had tasted the white wine he had chosen, she soon had a filled glass in front of her as well as feeling her father watch her with a narrowed, curious expression.

He parted his lips as if to say something but halted before settling on a more cordial expression – the one he used in business negotiations, "So, Lucy. How has this little town been treating you? Are you still with that magazine firm?"

Lucy took a delicate sip from her glass, "I am, we're going to be covering the new Heart Kreuz fashion line in a couple of weeks."

Her father grunted in response and Lucy wasn't sure what else she could say. Her father had no interest in fashion unless it was custom made at his choice of tailor. That she had a sleazy boss that flirted with every woman in the building? That she mostly collected coffee and typed up memos?

"The Konzern is going well," he quickly stated, changing the subject entirely, "In fact, I'm more than happy to employ you at an excellent position in Crocus under the tutorship of-"

"I'm happy where I am, _dad_." Lucy couldn't help herself when she seethed the last part. She was still nervous, but she couldn't stand him wanting to meddle in her life yet again.

"I see."

Lucy took yet another sip of her wine, not really enjoying its dry taste at all, "I really enjoy writing and I don't regret my choice in pursuing it for a second." She expected he wouldn't respond well to that but she felt strangely confident in saying it.

Ever since she had started playing D&D, the ideas for her fantasy novel were flowing easily. She had recently tried her hand a few short stories, just to get the hang of it. First, she wrote about the lizard-like creatures that sought out a dragon to serve and obey. Next, she wrote about a tavern brawl, dominated by wizards using the power of ice and fire before a noble swordswoman put a halt to it all. Finally, she wrote about how a dragon stole a princess with the intention of it being read like a fairy tale – yet she didn't have it in her heart to write the dragon as evil.

"Another question then," her father soon followed up with, swirling the wine glass in his hand, "Are you… being courted by anyone?"

Lucy had to do a double-take upon hearing that. _'Courted?'_ Just what era did her dad think they lived in?

"No, dad. I'm not seeing anyone." Lucy admittedly huffed, not liking where this way going. It seemed all too familiar.

"… I'm glad to hear it actually," he responded, smiling at her in a way that made Lucy want to roll her eyes as this was no doubt going to be another yet one of his suggestions connected to his business ventures.

"Dad, if you're trying to set me up again-"

"I only want you to meet him, Lucy. An associate's son. He's well-mannered and from a good background."

"Dad, no."

"Will you at least consider it? I only need you to make a good impression – you understand it's important to the business."

Whether it was her steadily rising confidence from the past few weeks beginning to make an appearance within her finally or whether Lucy was just beginning to have enough of her dad's 'requests' that no other woman her age had to seemingly put up with, she quickly found she was having a harder time keeping her opinions to herself that evening.

However, despite her desire to suddenly voice herself, that niggling reminder that her father may yet still be able to make her life harder remained at the forefront of her mind.

"… Can we discuss this after dinner?" She finally said, feeling her encroaching resentment subsiding a little as she fought with her conscience to keep the impromptu restaurant meeting amicable.

Her father once again grunted a little, clearly displeased but dropping the subject for the time being. It was a little odd for him actually, Lucy thought. Normally her father would be domineering and decide when he was to be done speaking but for whatever reason, he chose to honor her request.

Soon, Lucy was able to start a fresh conversation with him where she was able to ask him about the business and its newest ventures. Her dad was only too happy to oblige her feigned interest until their first course arrived. They ate in silence, with only small chitchat about the taste and quality of their meals briefly discussed. Her bisque was nice, but she had grown accustomed to other kinds of foods and didn't miss this kind of cuisine at all.

As they waited for their main meal, Lucy listened to him continue to talk about the company. She idly found herself glancing downwards, trying to get a glimpse of her phone that she had managed to slip out of her purse and hidden beneath the table in her hands. It had already been an hour since she had arrived.

Before long, their next course at arrived and Lucy was met with a small plate of fish accompanied by vegetables and a wedge of lemon. Her father was more than satisfied with his choice of steak. She found herself picking at the food, feeling plenty full already and dreading her father's inevitable return to their previous conversation. Lucy tried to take solace in the fact that he only wanted her to make a 'good impression' on someone's son, meaning that she only had to be polite, friendly and attentive when it came to listening to what he had to say. It was something she had done plenty of times before.

However, that niggling feeling from before was beginning to stir the more she thought about it. If her father was a genuine, loving man that only wished to see his only daughter after an extended period of time to catch up and spend some time together, she would have no issue with him abruptly putting a halt to her Saturday evening plans. Instead, he was thinking big business and how he could use her to improve his chance at getting in with the right people or succeeding in a trade deal by playing as some sort of matchmaker for her.

Right now, she could be back at Strauss Games with Natsu, watching a movie, laughing, cheering and just having a fun Saturday evening like most women would be having at her age. A part of her wanted to throw away the thought that her dad could find ways to punish her and she told herself that he no longer had any power over her once she had made the decision to become independent of him.

With her meal half-finished and her father politely placing down his cutlery in acceptable dining standards, he wasted no time in returning to that very same conversation.

"Lucy. About your meeting of my associate's son-"

"No." She abruptly stated.

"Lucy?"

"I won't do it. Not again."

His eyebrows narrowed at her, "Lucy, this really importan-"

Lucy barely stopped herself from yelling but rose her voice slightly at his insistence, "Stop it, dad. Stop trying to control my life for me!"

Her father scoffed, sitting back as a frown formed on his lips below his blond mustache. His fingers drummed against the linen tablecloth as he then let out a long disappointed sigh, "I'm just trying to do what is best for you, Lucy."

"I'm not a pawn for your business schemes. I'm my own person." Lucy calmly stated as her response.

"I wouldn't want to see you settle with someone who couldn't give you everything you need."

"And what do you think I need, dad?" Lucy asked with obvious sarcasm in her words, "Money? A mansion?"

He didn't answer her.

"I have everything I need… I have friends, an education that I want to pursue and a place of my own that I can call home."

Her father only looked away upon hearing this. Lucy found that was atypical of him. They might have been in public and dining out but it had never prevented him from raising his voice at her before. Instead, he looked more forlorn about what she was saying and it was as if he lacked an appropriate response that he could give her.

An uncomfortable silence washed over their table and Lucy felt herself grasping tightly at the napkin placed over her lap. Was he biding his time? Would he unleash his anger at any moment at her refusal to honor his request?

"Lucy," he spoke softly, still avoiding eye contact, "please, I ask you to do this as a favor to me."

Lucy would have been more shocked that his plea came across as something akin to begging if it weren't for the fact that he was still refusing to drop the subject entirely. She had said no and hadn't she made herself clear already that she was done being used in this way? She was getting angry. _Really_ angry.

She gripped the edge of the table for a second before standing to her feet, her hair falling forward as she hung her head, barely holding herself back from yelling every reason she could think of, of why she shouldn't have to do anything for him.

Finally, she lifted her head up and found that his expression hadn't changed.

"I don't owe you anything!" She yelled, unable to hold her frustration back any longer and earning some surprised stares from the other wealthy patrons sitting at the nearby tables.

Lucy didn't wait to hear what her father had to say next; she grabbed her purse and stormed away, leaving him and the overpriced restaurant behind.

Unfortunately, her apartment was too far to consider walking back to at the current hour and the heels she wore wouldn't make it any easier. Lucy felt herself growling frustrated sounds as she stomped to the nearest parked taxi and prayed it wouldn't cost her an arm and a leg to get home.

She was definitely going to indulge in a calming, piping hot bath when she was back in her apartment, she decided.

* * *

**Wednesday Afternoon, September 3rd**

After what felt like an incredibly long weekend what with her father's unusual behavior still on her mind, it was Tuesday evening that Lucy received a message from Gray, asking if she were free to meet up at any point before the next D&D session. That seemed odd to Lucy, who had expected that messaging alone would have been plenty sufficient to sort out any details pertaining to her character.

Aside from hanging out with Natsu as well as Erza's demands of driving her home, she had yet to spend any time with Gray outside of D&D. It wasn't as if she particularly had any strong desire to, especially if he had an overprotective 'girlfriend' of the sorts. Gray seemed friendly, a little guarded and kept his cool the majority of the time when they played D&D… well until Natsu opened his mouth that is.

When Lucy informed him that she the entirety of Wednesdays free other than just weekday evenings, he suggested that she pay a visit to his workplace 'The Magnolia Ice Cream Parlor' that afternoon if she had the time.

After Lucy had finished up on jotting down a few preliminary paragraphs of her potential novel that morning, she skipped lunch in preparation to pay a visit to the parlor.

As she walked through the streets of Magnolia in the direction of the shopping district, she couldn't help but feel a little nervous. Gray had not explicitly stated what he wanted to talk about concerning D&D and her imagination was beginning to run amok with both good and bad thoughts about how she wrote her character.

Upon reaching the parlor, it occurred to her that she had visited it once before, two years ago when she first moved here and Cana had suggested they grab an ice cream cone each on a particularly hot summer's day. It wasn't a particularly interesting place – fairly standard as to what you would expect an ice cream parlor to be.

When she entered the building, however, there was one surprise she hadn't expected.

The same blue-haired girl from a couple of weeks ago that had stormed into Strauss Games was there, sitting attentively at a booth, chatting cheerfully with one of the serving staff which quickly became clear that it was in fact, Gray himself. Lucy was quickly able to recall that the woman was called Juvia and the rest of her D&D group _seemed_ to have mixed feelings about her.

Gray was the first to spot Lucy and she observed him lean down and say something to Juvia in a hushed manner before he leaned back up and waved at Lucy, beckoning her over.

Lucy moved tentatively towards them as Juvia turned around in her seat and began to watch her ominously. The way that her deep blue eyes seemed to bore into her, as if she were trying to desperately read her mind for information – secrets even, before making some sort of final judgment. Lucy did her best to smile, but it was nervous and awkward. Was Juvia the reason why he wanted to meet in person?

"Hey, Lucy," Gray greeted her casually, "Glad you could make it. I hope you don't mind that I invited Juvia here also."

Juvia looked up at her and was wearing an equally nervous smile, "Juvia wishes to speak to you." The way she said it came off as a demand although Lucy didn't think she meant it as such.

"Uh, yeah, sure," Lucy awkwardly replied to her before looking to Gray for an explanation.

"Look, I'm still technically working at the moment so I'm gonna go fetch you guys some ice cream before my boss gets antsy," Gray stated, "so pick something off the menu and I'll go get it."

"Juvia would like mint ice cream." Juvia was quick to say as she looked at Gray with what Lucy could only describe as 'utter adoration'.

Taking a seat in the booth opposite Juvia, Lucy placed her bag to one side before turning to Gray, "Hm, do you serve frozen yogurt?"

"Uh, yeah. Yogurt though?"

"I love yogurt!" Lucy quickly realized she shouldn't have smiled when saying that as she felt Juvia shooting daggers into her skull. Breaking eye contact with Gray, she turned away, "any flavor will do…" she muttered.

Gray shrugged before giving Juvia a glaring, determined look and Juvia seemed to understand the silent gesture as she backed off. He then left them be, heading back towards the cold counter.

Still feeling intimidated by the blue-haired woman in front of her and being wholly unsure of what to say to her, Lucy chose to instead look out of the window to stare at the busy street outside.

"Juvia is sorry."

Lucy's head snapped back to Juvia who was shifting shyly on the cushioned bench, "I'm sorry?" Lucy inquired, uncertain as to what Juvia was apologizing for.

"Juvia is sorry for seeing you near Gray in Strauss Games and becoming upset…" she said quietly. The woman was clearly remorseful of her actions although Lucy felt no ill will towards her.

"You don't have to be sorry, I'm not offended at all!" Lucy said cheerfully, trying her best to assure Juvia that all was well. Lucy was most of all, curious as to who exactly Juvia was to everyone in the Fairy Tail group.

Juvia looked up, although was yet break away from her doleful expression, "Juvia hopes that Lucy is not a love rival."

Lucy had to take a moment, blinking stupidly at what Juvia had just said, "A what?"

"A love rival. For Gray's love."

Yep, she heard it right the first time.

"Yeah, I'm not a love rival!" Lucy retorted loudly at her, not appreciating that Juvia was accusing her of well, something.

"Juvia will not lose to Lucy."

Lucy raised an eyebrow at her, _'What's with this girl?'_

"I'm not interested in Gray, he's all yours!" Lucy tried to state plainly to her, mostly meaning every word. Gray was definitely good looking, dedicated, clearly had a vivid imagination if D&D was anything to go by and seemed kind too. Despite those qualities in which Lucy certainly appreciated, there was something about Gray that didn't click with her – like there was no spark.

Juvia smiled for the first time since Gray left to fetch their frozen desserts, evidently pleased with what Lucy had declared to her. That smile however, faded only mere seconds later, her eyes suddenly filled with doubt, "Who does Lucy like then?" she asked sternly as if she needed more than just Lucy's word.

Lucy sat up, her throat hitching as the question took her by surprise, "No one!" she declared as a knee jerk response. It was only as Lucy actually processed the question that she tried to push away all thoughts of the various men she knew in her life and the one in particular whom she just so happened to spend her last Saturday afternoon with. She dismissed such thoughts quickly, thinking little of them and silently asking why her brain is so weird some times.

Her answer was clearly not what Juvia wanted to hear as the woman stared at her suspiciously for a moment. It passed fairly quickly though as Juvia visibly relaxed and appeared to sit more comfortably in her seat.

"Juvia hopes that Lucy will not mind that Juvia wishes to play D&D with everyone," the blue-haired woman muttered, looking towards her with a hopeful purse of her lips.

Lucy wasn't hugely surprised by this: she had begun to wonder if this was why Juvia was here and apologizing to her – to be on good terms with each other before officially asking to join the Fairy Tail group.

Unfortunately, a part of Lucy immediately jumped to the thought that this was once again, manipulative tactics that played on her emotions for other people to get their own way, just like the tactics her father would employ. A small bubble of anger rose within her briefly before she took a sharp breath, and reminded herself that not everyone was like him.

Juvia wasn't just trying to be just nice to play D&D, right?

Furthermore, why was Juvia only asking her? Didn't Natsu and the others have a say in this too?

Luckily, her somewhat destructive chain of thoughts was broken by Gray's return as he placed two small bowls of ice cream and frozen yogurt on the table in front of them.

"We only had vanilla flavor, is that alright, Lucy?" Gray asked.

"Yeah, that's great, thanks!" She answered, ignoring the swirling thoughts in her head.

"I'm gonna take a break soon after I've finished a few things," Gray stated, leaving the girls alone once again.

As Lucy took a few small spoonfuls of her cold dessert, she found that Juvia was still staring at her, as if she were hoping for something and was yet to touch her ice cream.

"… Juvia?" Lucy finally asked, a little put off by the peculiar staring.

"Does Lucy take issue with Juvia playing D&D with Gray?"

Trying to push any lingering doubts aside, Lucy realized she had yet to answer Juvia and so far, the woman came across as the type that needed reassurance – perhaps having a similar level of low self-confidence to rival her own. She could certainly understand that – relate to it even.

"I don't have any problems with you playing D&D with us, Juvia! The more, the merrier, right?" Lucy replied with a keen smile.

Juvia lit up, clasping her hands together and looking thrilled at her response, "Juvia is looking forward to playing with you then, Lucy!"

As they steadily ate their respective cold confections, Juvia asked Lucy many questions about her character – some she could answer and some she couldn't. Despite her character's lengthy backstory, questions such as 'What does Lucy's character want to achieve?' and 'Is being a druid important to Lucy's character?'. It had Lucy thinking about Luna's motivations – so far she had just been happy doing whatever quests came along with her other party members.

Juvia kept tight-lipped on her end about what character she had planned to introduce to their campaign. Instead, she kept choosing to divert the subject to what a great dungeon master Gray was and how hard he works to make sure everyone has a good game.

Before long, Gray had rejoined them without his apron and looking wary of them both, "getting on okay?" he asked.

"Oh, Gray! Come sit with me!" Juvia quickly declared as the adoration Lucy saw in the blue-haired woman earlier made a reappearance and she watched Juvia grab Gray's arm and began tugging him towards the booth.

"H-Hey!" He exclaimed, recoiling slightly but it had little effect on Juvia's vice-like grip, "Juvia, stop it! I'm at work dammit!"

Juvia ignored him as he reluctantly sat down and she scooted herself closer to him, looking especially smitten.

Gray sighed, nudging her away slightly although not avoiding physical contact altogether as their hips still touched.

Lucy could only look on at them both, bewildered at the strange 'not-a-couple-but-are'.

"Alright, Lucy, about your character-" Gray began but quickly stopped when he felt Juvia cuddling up closer to him once again, "Juvia, come on already- cut it out!"

"But Lucy needs to see that Gray is not available!" Juvia protested in a playful manner, not failing to lock eyes with Lucy's in the process and leaving Lucy to let out a small, exasperated groan. She soon changed her previous thoughts from thinking that they were similar to instead think that Juvia _definitely_ had more self-esteem issues than her.

"I get it, okay?" Lucy said although more from a place of tiredness rather than frustrated.

Juvia nodded and clung to Gray tighter which seemed to annoy him further, "Juvia…" He uttered warningly.

Juvia relaxed her arms from clinging to him and chose to sit normally, her eyes dreamily settling over him. Lucy didn't miss Gray's brief gaze upon her and coy, reassuring smile before he looked back once more.

"I take it you're alright with Juvia playing, right?" He asked, his cool demeanor returning, "I overheard a bit of you guys talking."

"Yeah, I'm totally fine with it! Lucy chirped, smiling at Juvia and praying the woman didn't start up any more 'love rival' nonsense again. "I don't understand why you're asking me specifically though?"

Juvia piped up from her staring at Gray and catching Lucy's gaze, "Juvia knows she can be… difficult with other love rivals around. Juvia was hoping we could still be friends."

Lucy was a little taken aback by the statement. She barely knew Juvia still yet she was hoping for friendship? A fluttery sensation settled in the pit of her stomach at the thought of someone wanting to be her friend, even if she also considered her as some sort of rival. And if she was to be joining the Fairy Tail crew, then Lucy wanted to get to know Juvia for sure.

"I would like that." Lucy settled, reaching out her right arm as to offer Juvia a handshake. The blue-haired woman was apprehensive at first but after a quick glance towards Gray who nodded at her, Juvia took her hand and they lightly shook, earning smiles from both of them.

"Okay, with that settled, let's talk D&D," Gray soon said, bringing up his phone to check his notes, "Are you okay with talking about your character with Juvia here or?"

While it was true that Lucy had done what she could to keep her character's backstory hidden from the others, choosing instead to reveal it through roleplay and her actions in the campaign, she didn't intend for it to be a secret forever.

"As long as we don't give away too much," Lucy answered.

"Cool. So I read all of it and I think there are some parts we can include in the campaign."

Lucy leaned forward, keen as to what he thought were the more interesting bits. This was a mistake she quickly realized when Juvia shifted back towards Gray possessively. The man in question seemed to either not notice or had given up trying to battle Juvia's repeated clinging.

"Which parts?" Lucy asked, sitting back and doing her best as to not provoke Juvia in some form or another.

"Well, I saw that your character speaks 'Celestial' for some reason. It's a rare language – not used much. You said something about speaking to stars in Luna's backstory?"

Lucy remembered clearly about writing that part of the backstory – her character had learned that language growing up in order to try and speak to the stars, thinking that they would one day reply to her. She didn't know at the time that the 'Celestial' language in D&D referred more to angels than actual celestial bodies. She liked what she had written regardless.

"Yeah, Luna learned it thinking it would allow her to communicate with the stars," Lucy answered him, "I know it's a bit silly and all but I really wanted her to have a closer connection with them, what with being a star druid and all that."

"Nah, it's fine. Stars don't really have a 'canon' definition in D&D so I was thinking… what if the stars could speak?"

"How do you mean?"

"I could write that, in my campaign, she could believe that the stars have spirits and Luna wants to find a way to communicate with them as one of her personal goals."

Lucy's eyes lit up at the thought as she clasped her palms together, thinking about how that could unravel. She wondered how that would work; something similar to the novel 'Stardust' perhaps?

"Really… that sounds great!" She gleefully replied.

"Stop looking at my beloved Gray like that, Lucy."

"Like what exactly?!"

"Of course, how that all goes down will be up to me in the end but I think it offers an interesting arc for your character," Gray said, smirking as he read her sheet on his cell phone, "as all you had written before was 'to go on lots of adventures'."

"What's wrong with that?" Lucy inquired, clueless as to why it was a bad thing, "If it were actually me, that's what I would want."

"Nothing really. It's just kinda vague and not much for me to work with." Gray answered with a shrug.

Lucy decided to be open and honest about it, "I figured that's what any adventurer would want, adventures with their friends."

Gray smiled a little at this as if he were silently agreeing with her.

"Also…" he began as he read over the copy of her character sheet on his screen, "I want to involve some of that noble background of Luna's into the campaign too."

He shot a sideways glance to Juvia and she smiled, nodding back at him but neither of them said anything. Lucy distinctly felt that whatever he had planned, Juvia was in on it and she looked rather… pleased about it. It unnerved Lucy just a little.

Gray continued to ask various questions as well as wanting to know what she thought of the campaign so far. Whilst he wouldn't reveal any information about what he had planned for everybody else's characters, he did look particularly devilish when he said he was looking forward to what he had planned for Natsu's character in particular.

Before long, he returned to work leaving Lucy and Juvia alone once again. To Lucy's surprise, they managed to fall into a relatively easy conversation where Lucy was just an aspiring writer and intern 'journalist' and Juvia was just an athlete swimmer, both trying to succeed in their respective passions.

Still, Lucy really was keen to know _how_ Juvia would be joining the campaign and what she would be playing. When Lucy eventually asked her, arguing that Juvia had learned a lot about Luna from just being present in the booth, Juvia ominously replied, " _Drip drip drop,_ " perplexing Lucy even further.


	12. Duck Feet

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welp, sorry about this monster of a chapter. I could not find a good place to split it.

**Saturday, September 5th**

Ever since Juvia joined the D&D group chat on Wednesday night, a lot more conversing was happening between the group members to which Lucy thoroughly enjoyed observing. At first, it was just Juvia gushing over Gray and him telling her to stop with the message spam. Surprisingly to Lucy, Gajeel was next to start adding to the conversation in a more cordial manner than usual – asking Juvia how she was and if she had a character already planned and those sorts of things. It had Lucy wondering just how well everyone really knew Juvia as until now, she assumed they knew of her instead of _actually_ knowing her.

With curiosity burning within, Lucy decided to just plainly ask instead of continuing this guessing game that she had been playing all by herself.

It turned out that Juvia had not only transferred to their high school a few years ago but she also transferred with Gajeel from Oak Town. Unfortunately, whatever happened next became somewhat secretive but from the nuanced way that the group were avoiding the topic – something had happened to Juvia to cause she and Gajeel to barely speak to each other any more.

The rest of the group starting reminiscing about their school days – Lucy particularly enjoyed the story about how Natsu managed to not only start a fire in the chemistry labs but one in the music room too _somehow_ which had left a sour taste in Gajeel's mouth ever since. She found out that it was the reason why Gray made the odd 'pyro' insults at him and Lucy could only presume Gray's current occupation was the reason for Natsu's 'ice' themed insults in return.

Lucy found that a strange coincidence considering that Natsu played a type of fire sorcerer and seemed to run a constantly higher body temperature than everyone else. Then there was Gray who favored icy settings in his campaign and had a distinctly cooler body temperature.

But above all, she could finally rejoice as everyone's friendships with one another were actually starting to make sense.

Now it was Saturday once again and Lucy was looking forward to it after a tiring week of work that left her too exhausted to write anything in her novel in the evenings.

As usual, Lucy left early to arrive early and she greeted Mirajane and Lisanna cheerfully as she always did. Next, she would go to the table where she would no doubt find Gray and Natsu already there.

Except for this time, neither of them were.

For a moment, Lucy panicked that maybe it wasn't even Saturday and she had turned up on the wrong day before reminding herself that she's just being silly. Next, she went to double-check the messages on her phone but no one had said anything new. Lucy could make the assumption that Gray was late as Juvia was to be joining them but Natsu? That was surprising.

Seeking answers, she went to the counter where Mira humming as she was dusting the surfaces.

"Um, Mira, where is everyone?" Lucy asked, peering around once more, hoping that she really wasn't the only one of her group there. Unfortunately, that wasn't the case.

"Oh! I'm not sure where Gray is but Natsu is in the games room." She answered sweetly with an encouraging smile.

Lucy felt immediately relieved to hear that and promptly thanked Mira before hurrying along to find Fairy Tail's 'pyro'. As she descended down the spiral staircase, she was met with an absolutely shocking scene that she not been expecting in the slightest. Her breath hitched in her throat as she could barely believe what she saw.

Natsu was lying on the couch, looking comfortable, his chin tucked behind his scarf and he was holding a book – and actually _reading_ it.

"N-Natsu?" Lucy stuttered, briefly wondering if she had accidentally descended into a parallel universe.

Natsu peered up at her and unabashedly grinned at her, "Hey, Lucy!"

"You're… reading?" She slowly asked and was about to approach him before quickly stopping herself as the thought occurred that he could actually be playing some kind of practical joke.

"Tryin' to," he answered, looking back at the book and pulling a confused expression, "but man, it's hard. I don't even know what half these words are!"

Lucy cocked her head slightly to get a view of the book's cover – _The Fellowship of the Ring_. Why he suddenly wanted to read the book of the film they had both just watched exactly one week ago was a sudden mystery. She knew however, that reading Tolkien's original work could be difficult for those unused to reading and she wasn't too surprised he was struggling after finding out that he had dyslexia.

"I thought you didn't like reading?" Lucy curiously asked, observing him closely.

"Hate it."

"So why-?"

"I wanted to read the bits you said weren't in the movie."

"Oh… alright!" Lucy responded enthusiastically.

Lucy had to admit she liked Natsu's curious side, especially if it involved literary novels. She knew that this was, without a shadow of a doubt, a rare occasion knowing what she did of his personality so far.

Natsu continued to screw his eyes in irritation as he attempted to read the book, his hand slowly flickering as he was probably moving his index finger across the words to help him keep focused. Lucy could see his grip on the book's edge tightening and she half-suspected he might rip it into two at any given moment. Surely Natsu wouldn't destroy a book, right?

Not wanting to find out, Lucy confidently approached him with a solution in mind.

"Would you… like me to read it to you maybe?" She asked with cautious optimism.

Natsu peered over the top of the book again and within in seconds, his lips formed a blithe grin, "Yeah, that'd be awesome, Lucy!"

Lucy couldn't help smiling back at him and she was unsure of how or why he had that effect on her. A contagious smile maybe? Although seeing Natsu excited and happy about anything gave her a brief sense of adventure and joy – as if she knew that something thrilling was bound to happen in his company along with something potentially destructive.

She hurried over to the couch, knocking Natsu's feet away so she could sit down and earning a small grunt from the man as Natsu sat up and rather ungraciously tossed the book her way.

' _If Levy were here, he'd receive an earful for_ _doing_ _that...'_ she thought.

Lucy pouted at him for his actions and he seemed to marvel in it for a moment before Lucy huffed slightly, settling down and opening up the book, "Which page?" she asked.

"Uh…"

She looked at him incredulously, "You didn't get the page number before practically throwing the book at me?"

"It's the bit with that Tom guy!" Natsu protested next to her, leaning towards her to peer down over her shoulder at the open book in her palms. Lucy could feel his warm breath against her bare shoulders exposed by her halter top and she felt a wave of shyness wash over her yet surprisingly, no uncomfortable feelings surfaced.

Gulping nervously, she briefly looked at the table of contents to find the chapter which included 'Tom Bombadil' and turned the pages until she landed on it.

It took a few tries of reading out a few sentences as Natsu would stop her with 'read that bit' or 'nah, further along'. She was actually impressed by how much he had managed to read and silently questioned how long he'd been reading by himself for. It was likely he looked up the page number to start at on a Lord of the Rings wiki online or something and she pondered to herself why he didn't just read a wiki article about this character instead of attempting to read a portion of the book – not that she was against it in any form whatsoever.

Pushing those thoughts aside, she chose to focus on finding the right section as she was still secretly a little thrilled that Natsu actually was okay with her reading some of one of her favorite books out loud to him.

When they finally found the part Natsu had previously reached, she began reading it properly, accentuating the voices and tone of the characters, setting and the mood the chapter emanated. She had managed to read as far as to the part where the hobbits were feasting with Tom Bombadil in his home when Lucy found herself pausing more often as she felt Natsu beginning to lean against her more and more, his chin soon resting on her shoulder entirely. She could feel the tips of his rosy hair brushing softly against her neck and cheeks as well as his warmth permeating into her, not to mention that this would be exceptionally awkward and difficult to explain should anyone see this.

Clearing her throat, she could only guess he was merely trying to read along with her whilst listening. Either that or he was getting bored and maybe even falling asleep against her yet again. Was there something about her that screamed that she was a pillow to him or something?

"Uh, Natsu?" She finally decided to ask, wanting to see if he really had fallen asleep given she couldn't actually see his face clearly from where they were sitting.

"… Yeah?" He responded, a little sleepily in his voice.

She was certain he was getting bored.

"You want me to stop?" She asked and figuring that Natsu would be blunt and honest in his reply.

"Nah, keep going. What happens next?"

Lucy wasn't sure what to do with that information. He was fully conscious despite not sounding it and probably well aware of what he was doing – didn't he find it weird to be resting his head on a girl's shoulder without there being a romantic connotation to it? That they could be mistaken for a couple cozying up on the couch right now?

Figuring that this was Natsu – who Lucy had observed pretty much ignoring all of Lisanna's obvious interest in him, he probably had no idea, just like with the blanket the week before.

' _What he's doing is entirely platonic.'_ Lucy decided.

She read a little further and tried to keep in mind that Natsu's invasion of her personal space was entirely innocent and almost child-like. In turn, she tried not to think about how his wild locks of hair were actually quite soft and yet somehow still spiked out in the way that they did. She also tried to not think about how the skin-to-skin contact was deliciously warm and comforting either.

Lucy was finding herself getting lost in her own headspace on top of trying to read with increasing difficulty that she didn't hear footsteps from over by the staircase. If Natsu heard, he didn't move or adjust the way he was leaning his head on Lucy's shoulder in any way.

"Gihi. What's this?"

Lucy abruptly stopped in her reading to tear her head towards the stairs and froze.

Gajeel was standing there, grinning with his muscled arms crossed across in chest in his leather jacket and looking on, thoroughly entertained by what he was seeing.

"Am I interuptin' somethin' or are you two gonna come play D&D sometime this evening?" He asked as Lucy stared on, realizing that whilst she acknowledged earlier that anyone seeing Natsu leaning her on her would be hard to explain, she never actually formulated what she would actually say if it were to happen. Which it apparently just did.

"Yeah, we're coming." Natsu lazily replied, pulling away from her shoulder, finally, and stretching his arms over his head as if nothing at all was weird about what Gajeel had just seen.

' _First Lisanna, now Gajeel. Why does this keep happening to me? Why aren't I telling Natsu off when he does these things?!'_

If she wasn't so embarrassed, she would have asked Natsu there and then why he kept getting close to her like that – expecting an oblivious but innocent explanation of course, and perhaps her trying to explain to him why it was _kind of_ awkward. She'd figured she would leave out the part where she liked how warm he was, even if would be meaning it as a compliment.

With Gajeel still standing there, evidently waiting for them, she instead got up and went to go place the book back on the bookshelf. If Natsu wanted to know the rest of that chapter, they could probably find their place again really easily… or she might recommend he try audiobooks instead to avoid being caught in a compromising situation again.

They both followed Gajeel back upstairs, Lucy rather sheepishly as she heard him chuckle a bit along the way.

When they were back on the shop floor, everyone was awaiting them at the table. Lucy quickly glanced at the clock – the group had been waiting at least ten minutes for them. Gray seemed preoccupied behind his screen to notice them but Erza didn't look too impressed with their tardiness.

"Natsu. Lucy. You're late." She stated sternly.

"Sorry, Erza." Lucy said quietly. Natsu boldly waved the redhead off as his gaze was clearly fixated on the table instead. He was looking straight at the single, distinct difference at the table this week.

Juvia was there, looking fairly pleased with blue wavy curls framing her face, a fluffy, wintery hat adorning her head. She was, however, sitting in Lucy's seat.

To Lucy's surprise, Natsu approached his own seat, gripping the back of it with his hands as he stared down Juvia, not breaking eye contact once. "Lucy is supposed to sit there," he said to her, sounding particularly annoyed about it.

"Juvia needs to be between Gray and love rival," Juvia answered sounding fairly unconcerned about the group's usual seating arrangements.

Lucy felt her eyebrow twitch aggressively at hearing that. She thought she and Juvia had been getting along so well after they had got talking in the ice cream parlor that Wednesday afternoon, yet still she was a 'love rival'.

"I don't care, that's where Lucy sits," Natsu answered her, folding his arms and maintained his intense stare.

Why Natsu felt the need to defend her damned seat was unknown to her but Lucy felt at least a little bit grateful that he was standing up for her, although it was over something so trivial.

"Juvia-" Gray tiredly began, "Come on, don't be like this…"

Juvia turned to the man of her affections with pleading eyes, "Juvia must! Juvia needs to be beside her beloved Gray!"

Far be it to make a fuss over a seat of all things, Lucy had no particular desire to sit in the chair that sat her beside the dungeon master. Juvia clearly just wanted to be close to Gray more than anything and the woman probably wasn't intentionally trying to test her thinning patience.  
It was fine – Lucy would just sit on the other side of Natsu at the end of the table instead.

"Natsu, I'll sit on the end, alright? Then everyone's happy." Lucy declared, already sitting herself down and getting her things out ready.

Natsu turned to where she was sitting and eyed her for a moment as if he were inspecting whether her new position at the table was suitable.

"Sit down already, Salamander, we're waitin' to play here." Gajeel barked at him. Natsu shrugged, his expression unreadable as he took his seat as he said nothing to his work colleague.

Lucy had to admit, she felt a little more nervous with Gajeel sitting to her right with how impatient and gruff he could be. With Natsu now to her left and his own brashness and impatience, she felt as though she were figuratively sitting between two volatile dragons.

Once they had their character sheets out and miniatures on the table, Gray began to speak, "Alright, as I said in the group chat and you were all cool with it, Juvia is joining us today and I'll be introducing her character during the session. Any questions?"

Erza sat forward, looking at Juvia directly, "Yes. Will your character be at the same level as ours? Lucy's is already one level behind."

"J-Juvia's character will be at the same level as Lucy's, Gray said," Juvia answered nervously, most likely feeling somewhat intimidated by Erza.

Erza nodded at her, "Good, we want to be of adequate strength for when we face this dragon."

"Can we get on already?" Gajeel moaned impatiently.

Lucy wasn't sure why she felt suddenly nervous but hopefully, once they all got playing, everything would settle into place.

* * *

Juvia sat patiently for the first hour of the game without introducing her character. Everybody else went about their business in the new city that they had stopped at during their previous session. They resupplied their rations, Metalicana played music… badly, Salamander only set fire to two buildings and Titania bought some new armor pieces that didn't require any custom fitting. Luna, still penniless, mostly followed Salamander around and tried to convince him not to damage anything else in the city.

Lucy suspected Natsu was having way too much fun at her expense in trying to find new ways to get her character to stop his.

It wasn't long before a local distraught citizen approached them all once they had reformed as a group, recognizing them for adventurers and pleading with them to find his daughter who was last seen in a nearby forest just outside of the city.

Lucy had Luna accept the request immediately, not thinking twice about going to help. Her character was naturally good-aligned so she didn't think Luna wouldn't hesitate to help a helpless father. Their other quest to hunt down a dragon could wait!

Natsu and Gajeel both expressed some disappointment, both keen to get on with finding their main reason for traveling – hunting the dragon but Erza shot them both harsh glances.

"Rescuing a child from any sort of evil fiend is a worthy cause!" She rallied at them.

"No one said anything about an evil fiend…" Gajeel pointed out to her. Erza ignored him.

"We need to get stronger to beat the dragon anyway." Lucy stated which immediately had the guys suddenly a lot more interested in undertaking the new request, seeing it as 'training'.

With the group on their way to the last seen location of the missing girl, Lucy noticed Juvia would occasionally giggle as they made their way through the forest. Her sideways glances at Gray were a dead giveaway too. They had planned something.

Salamander attempted to track the girl using a perception check but that didn't amount to much. With them all eventually attempting their own perception checks, Erza was able to find footprints in the mud and the party agreed that they should follow the tracks.

Aside from Salamander clumsily tripping over the roots of a tree (apparently it only happened to Natsu's character according to Gray which seemed a bit suspect), they didn't run into any danger but did reach the edge of a wide lake.

"… Crystalline waters, serene lilies and iridescent dragonflies hovering in the reeds," Gray described the scene as Juvia was looking absolutely jovial about it, clasping her hands around her cheeks in a dream-like manner.

"Oh, Gray, it sounds wonderful!" She cooed at him.

Lucy was beginning to wonder if she was the only one feeling a little awkward by Juvia's steady flow of endearing comments. Peering at the various faces of each member at the table, she doubted it. They were fully used to this. It was now also glaringly obvious that this lake would be the location that they would be meeting Juvia's character.

"As you all approach the lake, a figure emerges from its depths…" Gray began, "… and you notice that the figure is-"

"I cast firebolt at that monster!" Natsu suddenly yelled out. Lucy grimaced. Clearly it was obvious to everyone _but_ him.

"Salamander, don't!" Lucy roleplayed at him. She looked towards Gray, "Luna grabs Salamander as he's casting his spell, hoping that it will cause him to shoot the firebolt in a different direction!"

"Luna, what the hell?" Natsu questioned beside her, his hand practically shaking to release his dice already.

"Alright, alright!" Gray spoke up from the other end of the table, "Natsu, roll with disadvantage."

Lucy didn't know what that meant – or rather, she couldn't remember what that meant. It was a negative thing, she understood that much.

Natsu grumbled, making brief eye contact with Lucy and she shirked away from how annoyed he was looking.

He rolled his D20, scoring a 15 and combined with the rest of his character's stats, that would be an easy hit.

However, he rolled exactly the same again, this time scoring a 6 instead.

Gray smirked at the result as Erza breathed a sigh of relief. Natsu groaned.

"Okay, Salamander, your firebolt wildly misses your target and goes shooting off into the sky before fizzling out completely."

"Why'd you do that?!" Natsu exclaimed towards Lucy, twisting towards her and Lucy shrank back a little in her seat.

"She did that because the 'monster' you're trying to firebolt is obviously not a monster you idiot." Gajeel mockingly said.

"Huh?"

"He means you should hold off from attacking immediately," Erza explained, "and discover if it is friend or foe."

Natsu sat back in his chair, looking peeved but clearly understood what they were both getting at. Lucy looked at him apologetically but he wasn't looking her way. She just did what she figured her character would do – her intelligence and wisdom stats were decent and she thought that Luna would be more of a strategist and would want to know more of her enemy before engaging it. She did wonder if it was wrong of her to prevent Salamander from behaving as perhaps Natsu intended?

Gray carried on with the game and went on to describe the figure: blue, wet, soaked, pointed ears. Juvia chimed in with extra details.

Lucy wasn't overly interested. Instead, she leaned over to Natsu slightly whispering, "Did I do something wrong?"

Natsu turned his head slightly towards her and looked on with a confused expression, "Huh? No? I don't think so."

Lucy felt relieved but it still didn't feel right between them, "You sure?" she double-checked.

Natsu nodded a little, "Yeah, we're roleplaying, right?"

Lucy relieved that it was just that, nodded back with a small smile, "Yeah." She whispered.

She sat back up and to no surprise, she found that Gajeel was rolling his eyes at her. She shrugged at him as if to ask 'what?' but he said nothing and went back to looking at Juvia who was still gushing over Gray's description of her character.

Erza was first to speak, "Greetings! I am Titania, leader of this party of adventurers. Who might you be?"

"Who in the hell made you leader!?" Natsu piped up from his chair but Erza banged her fist to the table, shutting him up immediately.

" _Drip, drip, drop_. You speak to the rain woman." Juvia said ominously towards them all with a monotone voice.

"The rain woman?" Lucy questioned, thinking that was a strange way for her character to introduce herself.

"Heh. Like old times, huh?" Gajeel commented but he made no effort to be in character. Juvia smiled at him fondly for a brief moment before returning her focus back to the game and moving her miniature into position. Strangely, it was a miniature of a fish.

"Uh, why are you a fish?" Natsu asked.

"Juvia doesn't have a miniature yet." She answered dolefully.

Lucy looked at her own miniature, standing proudly beside Natsu's and Erza's. It wasn't long ago that she was in Juvia's position but now her character had come to life, all thanks to Natsu. She had even gone back and altered her character's description slightly, just to fully match the miniature.

"Rain woman, why are you here and are you connected to the missing girl?!" Erza quickly demanded of Juvia, causing Juvia to jump a little at the accusation and spill out that she had no knowledge of that. Lucy thought Juvia was actually roleplaying fairly well to not jump out of character under Erza's commanding presence.

Everyone took turns to ask 'rain woman' a few questions such as her connection to the lake, why she greeted them and if she could aid them in anyway. Her answers were simple enough – she was some sort of water 'genie' creature? Lucy wasn't really sure what that was supposed to be at all. She used the power of water for her spells and said she had been 'chosen' to aid them.

Titania, using an insight check, determined that 'rain woman' was truthful and they would accept her offer to aid them.

Before long, they continued their search for the missing girl, following a trail that led back into the forest. Everyone had more or less shortened Juvia's character's name to just 'Rain' to make it easier on themselves as they did various checks. Lucy suspected that Juvia's character had a different name entirely but for whatever reason, chose not to reveal it.

Eventually, the party found themselves at the entrance of a mysterious, well-maintained hedge maze in a clearing. Gray went on to describe the tall and thick impenetrable walls of shrubs and brambles, the mossy ground and the alluring scent of honey awaiting them inside.

"I wanna burn it."

"For fuck's sake." Gajeel groaned in Natsu's direction.

Lucy shot Natsu a sideways glance, "What about the girl?" she asked, hoping he might rethink his choice.

"Oh yeah! Guess not then."

"Let us enter the maze and find the girl before anything happens to her," Erza announced to which nobody argued against.

Everyone took a short interlude so that Gray could set up the paper containing the hand-drawn maze on the table, concealing the unexplored parts with sheets of blank paper so the layout remained a mystery to them all. Erza led Juvia away from the table much to Juvia's apprehension at leaving Gray's side. Lucy found herself in conversation with them as Natsu followed Gajeel after the latter motioned for him to follow him outside as he took his smoke break.

Despite Juvia's 'seat robbing' earlier, the woman seemed at much more at ease and she gushed over the designs of their characters. Erza responded that much of her own character's design came from historical renditions of armor. There were no further mentions of being a 'love rival' and Lucy would gladly keep her new seat if it made Juvia refrain from calling her that.

Everyone soon returned the table once Gray called them back over and their journey through the maze began.

"I think Luna will want to map out the maze as they're traversing it," Lucy said to Gray, "she has cartographer's tools."

Gray nodded affirmatively at her, "Okay, so Luna is going to create a map-"

"Juvia thinks the cantrip 'Prestidigitation' to leave marks would be a better choice."

"Oh? Well, both ideas have their merits." Erza commented as Lucy felt irked by Juvia's sudden interruption.

"Nah, Lucy's is better. If we have a map, we don't need marks." Natsu disagreed and Lucy once again felt grateful that he had her back. Personally, she didn't see what was wrong with doing both but perhaps Juvia was making this a competition of sorts… or just roleplaying. She was beginning to get frustrated that she couldn't tell the difference.

"Let Juvia do her lil' magic trick," Gajeel said, cocking his head at Juvia and she seemed to welcome the gesture with a wide smile.

Erza sat forward, taking command of the table, "We should do both, that way-"

Juvia sat forward and pushed her little fish miniature into one of the two paths visible in Gray's drawing of the hedge maze, "Juvia thinks the rain woman would get impatient and go into the maze."

Before anyone else could react to this, Gajeel sat forward, moving his character too, right after Juvia's, "Gonna make sure she's not alone," he said.

"Wait, we shouldn't split up!" Erza said but that was overshadowed by the sound of Gray's rolls from behind the screen. He soon spoke up.

"Alright, everyone roll initiative. You aren't going into combat but it will make it easier to deal with everybody's movement within the maze." He said impassively.

As if it was decided by fate itself, Juvia rolled the highest, followed by Gajeel, than Erza, Lucy and Natsu last.

Juvia used her turn to move her character yet again, turning a corner and announcing she was placing a magical blue mark on the hedge with her 'prestidigitation' spell. Gajeel had Metalicana continue to follow her.

When it came to Erza's turn, Gray once again spoke up:

"Since both the rain woman and Metalicana have turned into two new pathways and the rest of you are still out of sight behind them, you will need to do a 'perception' check to spot them in order to follow them."

Erza mumbled something along the lines of 'never splitting the group' before rolling. She scored an 18 so Titania was easily able to keep up.

Lucy was up next and reluctantly, she also had Luna attempt to follow the rest of the group. She figured she would still create a map as she went but wasn't sure if Juvia would be helping or hindering the party. Lucy also had a bad feeling about her roll that evidently proved to be correct.

She rolled a 1.

"Uh…"

Lucy caught the sound of Juvia's giggling and despite Erza's earlier signs of annoyance, a small uncharacteristic giggle from her too.

"Okay then…" Gray said, slightly surprised at seeing the roll.

It was almost instinctual at this point with how Lucy found herself once again looking to Natsu for some sort of reassurance or words of encouragement. It made sense in her mind – he brought her into D&D so he was like her guide… right?

Natsu however, was just staring at the dice on the table whilst he leaned forwards, his elbows propped up on the table and his arms supporting his resting head. Lucy figured he was just bored and waiting to take his turn.

"Lucy," Gray said as she looked over his way at the sound of her name being called, "… Luna, _somehow_ , unable to _possibly_ comprehend where her companions have suddenly gone, takes off and goes in the other direction entirely."

"Ugh…" Lucy groaned as she moved her miniature onto the other path.

Gray turned to Natsu, "Natsu, are you gonna roll-"

"I'm gonna follow Luna's character. Don't think I need'ta roll for that." Natsu quickly said, moving his character behind hers, "Let's stick with your plan to map the place, Luna."

Everyone around the table took their turns. Lucy could see Erza's anguish across the table at knowing their party had been separated but of course their actual characters would have a completely different perspective on what was happening.

So far, there had been no incidents of traps and Natsu had Salamander contently follow Luna around as she mapped and theorized which direction might be best to take.

It was when they were about to turn a corner on Lucy's turn that Gray suddenly stood up from his seat to place a new miniature in front of theirs. He did not say what it was but Lucy could see it was a large insect of sorts with very large mandibles.

"Whoa, what the hell is that?!" Natsu exclaimed, leaning in and carefully studying the miniature. Lucy could have sworn he even _sniffed_ it too.

"The monstrous creature you see before you burrows out from the ground below, alerted to your presence by your footsteps and looks upon you with hungry eyes," Gray announced loudly to the two of them as the rest of the group watched on in trepidation, "Roll initiative."

Natsu rolled higher out of the two of them and he reacted first to the creature.

"I'm gonna cast Dragon's Breath on myself and move…" Natsu picked up his miniature and to nobody's surprise, placed it in front of Lucy's.

With Gajeel still sitting to Lucy's right, she had no issue hearing him lightly snort at Natsu's choice. He was looking mildly amused before catching Lucy's gaze and she swore that he _winked_ at her before looking back to the miniatures. It was enough to make Lucy feel slightly flustered as she recalled how he had also reacted earlier in the basement.

Lucy's turn wasn't next, however. Her initiative roll had been a measly 3. It was unlikely that the creature would be slower than her.

"Alright, the creature opens its mouth and within seconds, spits a line of acid towards you both," Gray excitedly announced as he waited eagerly to see how Natsu would respond, "You both need to roll dexterity saving throws if you want to try and avoid taking the full hit."

Natsu didn't react to Gray, instead choosing to roll very quickly with his D20.

"Come on, ice stripper! You gotta try harder to kill me than that!" He said yelled when his D20 revealed a 17 and that wasn't even accounting for his character's own dexterity bonus.

"Is that a challenge, flame brain?" Gray taunted, "Because I could make it harder."

Lucy cried out immediately at hearing this, "No! I don't want Luna to die!" She could only hope that Natsu would stop taunting their dungeon master.

"You still have to roll, Lucy. You got hit by it too." Gray reminded her and was looking a little _too_ pleased about their current situation.

Lucy knew she had no additional bonuses to her dexterity stat and knew that she was at the mercy of the dice roll.

"Lucy," Erza called, gaining the blonde's attention. "Remember that your character has that 'lucky feat' that we picked when we made your character together."

Lucy eyed her with confusion. Lucky feat? What was she talking about?

"My what?" Lucy said as she looked over her character sheet for any mention of 'luck'. She had been fairly overwhelmed when everyone was helping her put a character together back on her first day so she acknowledged that she may have missed it entirely.

"When you picked to play a human character, you had to pick between extra stats or some other stuff that included a feat," Gajeel interjected next to her. "I thought you told her that, Salamander?"

Natsu scowled at Gajeel, "Yeah, I did! I even told her to take the second option. Wrote it down for Lucy and everything."

' _Wrote it down?'_ Lucy thought, still at a loss for what they were talking about.

Then, she suddenly understood. On one of her pages was a list of her character's abilities but Natsu had filled in a few details for her – including writing down something that had made absolutely no sense and she had previously dismissed it.

Looking at his writing, she could see the words 'duck feet' and '3 points xtra die rols with d20'. She had assumed it was just scribbles or some kind of incomprehensible joke.

"Duck feet?" She quietly mouthed and both Natsu and Gajeel looked on at her with befuddled expressions. Juvia looked to Gray, hoping for an explanation but he looked as lost as the rest of them.

"Duck feet?" Gajeel questioned, "Gimme that."

"Hey!" Lucy protested as Gajeel snatched the paper from Lucy's grasp, giving a quick read through.

"Yeah, I'm gonna blame Salamander for this screw-up." He announced, tossing the paper haphazardly back to Lucy and looking straight at Natsu, "No wonder she's confused, you illiterate moron."

"Shut up," Natsu responded.

"Quiet, both of you," Erza ordered before turning to Lucy, "Lucy, your character can roll up to three D20s on any kind of throw that involves that dice. You can pick which result you want. Think of it as your character being naturally lucky."

"So I can… roll an extra dice and choose the result?" Lucy asked, confirming whether or not she was understanding it correctly.

"Yes. You must decide before you roll and each extra dice costs a luck point. You get your luck points back after sleeping, understood?" Erza stated.

Lucy wasn't quite sure if she should be happy that she stood a better chance now or annoyed that she had missed so many opportunities to have a choice in her previous bad rolls during so many sessions. Knowing what she did about Natsu now, she couldn't be mad at him, even if she wanted to. He'd tried his best to get her started in the game and for that, she was indebted.

"Alright!" She said confidently, taking her dice and shaking her hand, "I'll roll an extra dice on this then!"

"Yeah! Go, Lucy!" Natsu cheered as her dice hit the table.

A 12.

Lucy took the dice and rolled again.

A 15.

She smirked, "I think I know which result I want."

Gray nodded, "Yeah. I think you do. You both spot the monster's obvious breath attack and attempt to dodge it. The acid only slightly gets on you and the both of you take," Gray's dice were rolled behind the screen, "seven points of damage."

Lucy let out a small gasp of relief. That wasn't so bad for her character but she knew better than to let her guard down yet.

"Your turn, Lucy," Gray said.

"Hm…" Lucy murmured as she looked down at her sheet. With only their characters present, they were both going to need all the help she could get. "I'm going to use my 'Chalice' Starry form."

She wouldn't be able to do anything else on her turn but this form, imbuing her character with star lines of a life-giving goblet, would allow the casting of her only healing spell to also restore health to someone else nearby too which included herself.

"I dunno what that does but I'm gonna Fire Dragon's Breath that thing!" Natsu announced, knowing it was his turn next.

"Alright, roll your damage," Gray instructed as he secretly rolled his own dice.

Natsu smiled when he saw his result – a total of 12 out of a possible 18, "Take that, Gray!"

"It's not me, it's a monster- you know, never mind. Let's see what you make of this," Gray rolled yet another dice. "The creature goes to bite you Salamander, with its massive jaws and mandibles. You take 11 damage as well as 4 acid damage-"

"What!? No way!"

"Yes 'way', it rolled well. Not only that, but you are now stuck in its grasp as you have been grappled by the monster."

"Shit."

"Yeah."

Natsu turned to Lucy and she could see he wasn't not looking entirely confident about the situation – not fearful but his cocky smirk was gone. She wasn't sure how much health his character had but being a spell caster, it couldn't have been a lot compared to say, Erza's character. Not only that but 'grappled' sounded as if his character couldn't move, unable to get away from the assault of the monstrous insect. Lucy knew it was just all just a game but seeing the concern in Natsu's eyes about his character's predicament began to drive a determination within in her that she wasn't aware that she ever had.

"Luna casts cure wounds on Salamander." Lucy said calmly, rolling her dice, "And Luna should also be healed with her current starry form"

Her healing spell was decent and restored 10 of Natsu's health points, negating some of the bite damage that the giant insect did. Luna's health was back to full too.

"Natsu, your turn, do you try to break free?" Gray asked.

"Yeah, I'm not getting beat by a bug." He answered, already rolling the dice.

Natsu's roll was not promising – a mere 6.

Gray shrugged unapologetically at Natsu and rolled a dice of his own, "Unfortunately for Salamander, he can't seem to get free of the mandibles holding him. Unable to defend himself, the monster goes to bite him again."

Natsu knocked his head back against the back of the chair, frustrated.

"You've got this, Natsu. Don't fret." Erza said from across the table.

"Juvia is sorry this happened…" Juvia uttered next to him with regret etched across her face.

Gray sat forward, peering over the screen, "Salamander takes a further 9 points of damage."

Lucy was relieved it wasn't more but she knew she couldn't just stand there and heal endlessly until she ran out of spell slots to use. Natsu would have to free his character and she would have to hope that it didn't kill him if she chose to damage it instead of healing Salamander.

"I'm going to shift to my other starry form; the one of the archer." She announced on her turn, "and I'll use my bonus action to shoot a luminous arrow at the monster."

"You go, bunny girl," Gajeel grunted although she wasn't sure if it was supposed to be encouraging or mocking.

"I'm using one of my lucky dice rolls as well," Lucy added, speaking with more conviction than before. She rolled her D20 twice and immediately took the higher roll – a 17.

"Roll your damage," Gray stated.

She rolled a 5. Not much, but it was a start.

Gray didn't have a second to get a word in before Natsu was rolling to escape the grapple.

He rolled poorly again – an 8 this time.

"I just wanna fight this thing, dammit!" Natsu shrieked, noticeably coiling his fists into tight, frustrated balls.

"You should worry more about your character's health," Erza commented.

"Yeah, yeah."

"Just stop tryin' to escape and let it grapple you – you can still breath fire at it can't ya?" Gajeel added.

"Lucy can't keep healing me though-"

"Natsu-" Gray began to speak.

"What, ice princess?"

"The creature misses."

Natsu's mouth fell agape, "Huh?"

"Yeah, I dunno how, but somehow it missed biting you. Maybe it couldn't get its teeth through your scales or something."

Lucy was feeling equally as confused. She didn't think that the creature could miss with its prey held like that. She could only assume that Gray had rolled poorly – critically failed even. There was no way of knowing unless he admitted it though. The thought was reassuring – Gray could fake his rolls just to try and take out Natsu's character if he wanted but he didn't go down that route despite their perceived rivalry. Even if Gray was the dungeon master of their game, that made him a Fairy Tail team member in a way… even if he had to play as the monsters that attacked them.

Lucy was abruptly broken from her thoughts when she felt a hand grab her left wrist and she twisted her gaze towards the source – Natsu was staring right at her, his rough hand exerting warmth from his touch, "Go for it, Lucy." he said before releasing his grip.

Just hearing that was enough to reaffirm that she definitely could do this – dish out some damage and prepare to heal Salamander on her next turn. Plan ahead, strategize, she could do that.

"I'm going to cast 'Guiding Bolt' at the creature using my spellcasting focus, the gold key," Lucy announced loudly to the group.

"You can use that?" Gray asked, looking somewhat surprised despite being in charge of the game, "Isn't it only usable by clerics?"

"A druid of the stars can!" Lucy declared to him assuredly, "and I'm using the last of my luck rolls on this too!"

She rolled to hit her target and smiled at seeing her pink D20's second result reveal a 15. Definitely a hit. Lucy followed up with her damage roll, scoring 14 radiant damage in total.

"And!" Lucy quickly said, turning to Natsu, "my spell also means that the next attack roll against the target has advantage!"

She knew what this meant – she could roll twice and take the better score when trying to hit the monster. Better yet – she still had her bonus action and as soon as the words left her mouth, Natsu's expression returned his usual cocky grin that he had initially displayed at the start of the fight, realizing this too.

"The creature isn't looking so good although it doesn't relinquish its grip on you, Salamander," Gray stated, smiling a little. Lucy reckoned he might actually be quietly cheering them on despite his earlier challenge to Natsu.

"Wait!" Lucy said before Natsu could do anything, "I can still use my bonus action can't I?" she directed at Gray.

"Yeah? If you have anything to use that is."

"I do." She answered, "I'm gonna follow up my attack with another luminous bolt from my star archer form!"

Lucy vaguely recalled her first session when Gray had allowed her to play this type of druid character. Natsu had said something about unreleased content and Gray had looked it over and declared it all fine. She wondered if he regretted that decision as she rolled her D20 again – with the extra advantage. An easy hit with two rolls to pick from.

"You've really thought this through, haven't you, Lucy?" Erza asked, smiling contently at the blonde. She had and the fact that Erza, the self-declared leader of their party, was looking at her with pride made her feel valued among them.

She rolled her damage – 7 points.

Gray loudly sighed, "Okay, the creature is looking _really_ worse for wear – barely hanging on, but doesn't relent. Natsu-"

"Fire Dragon's Breath!" He yelled out, rolling his damage without a moment's hesitation.

His roll wasn't great – only a 4 but Gray nodded, conceding that this was the end for the monster.

"With powerful fire, burning its face to a crisp, the monster's grip on Salamander finally eases up as it falls forward, dead," Gray announced to everyone.

Natsu yelled out a cry of joy, causing Mira and Lisanna who had unashamedly been watching the combat from a close distance jump at how loud he was.

"Juvia is so relieved!" cried out the blue-haired woman, swinging around in her seat to wrap her arms around Gray who attempted to (and failed) to dodge it.

"Great job you two," Erza said calmly and Lucy found that she just couldn't stop smiling at everyone. Her character might be one level below everyone's but she held her own.

"So what was the monster?" Gajeel asked loudly over the table.

"It was obviously an ankheg." Erza responded confidently to him.

"Yeah, it was. Good catch, Erza." Gray confirmed for them, "A large acid-spitting insectoid that burrows underground."

"Does it have any loot?" Natsu promptly asked.

"Unless you know how to collect its acid and also have a container to put it in…" Gray replied, already knowing that Natsu's character obviously did not.

"So what about the rest of us?" Gajeel asked as he drummed his fingers along the table impatiently. Everyone else had been sitting there a for while, watching the combat but unable to participate. It was time to get to their turns already.

* * *

With the ankheg dead and Gray looking genuinely impressed about the whole thing, he switched to interacting with the rest of the group. Lucy could barely believe they had survived that encounter and she hoped, at the very least, that Juvia might think twice before unintentionally splitting the group like that again or at least her character might if she was just roleplaying.

Natsu was surprisingly fairly quiet after that although whether that was because his character was not far off from dying or whether he was just letting everyone else take their turns without interrupting, Lucy couldn't be sure.

The others ran into a group of giant wasps but unlike she and Natsu, they had little issue with dealing with the creatures. It also became known to everyone that Juvia was playing a spell caster that was utilizing water magic.

When it was time for Lucy to play her character again, she and Natsu fell into an easy partnership as they traversed more of the maze and eventually ended up outside of it entirely. They weren't anywhere near where they had started but were at a trail that led deeper into the forest.

"What do ya wanna do, Luna? Go back or keep looking?" Natsu roleplayed.

"Hmm, well there's always a chance that the girl went this way," Lucy suggested and that was more than enough for Natsu to have Salamander want to continue along the trail, him leading the way this time.

It took a while between the alternating turns with the other group still exploring the maze, most likely get close to the middle. Eventually, Salamander and Luna had reached a clearing along the trail and Gray began describing something that had Natsu interested in what he was saying straight away.

"Salamander, in the clearing you spot a small, furry winged creature that looks very similar to a cat. What do you do?" he stated.

"Do I know what it is?"

"Roll a nature check to find out."

Natsu, as always, was quick to roll and he rolled decently - a 14.

"Okay, Salamander, you recognize that this creature is Tressym; a magical winged cat and very rare to find."

Natsu was quiet for a moment and Lucy thought about having her character do something. Her character may be more connected to stars instead of trees but interacting with animals fell under the whole 'druid' aspect of things, surely? She even had a spell that could allow her to speak to them.

Natsu suddenly sat up with fierce, determined eyes as he stared directly at Gray, "I wanna tame it."

"Uh, you what?"

"You heard me, I wanna tame this thing. Salamander is gonna look after it and everything!"

Lucy wasn't sure what to make of this. Until now, Natsu seemed to mostly care about fighting or being better at Gajeel or Erza at things in the game. Now he suddenly wanted a pet.

"Um, are you sure about this, Natsu?" she gingerly asked him.

"Yeah. Sorry, Lucy – finder's keepers!" He announced to her, smirking a little her way. She wasn't sure if she was annoyed or not. She reminded herself she was more of a dog person anyway.

"So how are you gonna try and tame it, flame breath?" Gray asked curiously.

"Yeah, and what the fuck do you need a magic cat for anyway?" Gajeel added.

"Does it matter?" Natsu retorted at Gajeel, "Anyway, I'm gonna try and feed it somethin'…"

Natsu peered over his sheet briefly as the group waited for whatever he was going to do next. He soon sat up, "I have a fish in my pack, can I use that?"

"Yeah… just go ahead and do an _animal handling_ check."

Natsu rolled, his dice smacking into Gajeel's miniature in the process much to the biker's annoyance. Erza was the first to let out a small gasp upon seeing the result.

A 20. A natural 20.

A critical success.

Gray loudly groaned, "I can't believe this." he said quietly, "Am I gonna have to pretend to be a cat now?" as Gajeel barked a laugh across the table.

"It's gotta be mine after that roll!" Natsu proclaimed smugly, crossing his arms at Gray and waiting for an answer.

"Fine. You offer your fish to the Tressym and you get the strange feeling it can understand you." Gray began, "After it eats your fish, it looks at you expectantly and you get the feeling it might want to follow you."

"Oh man, what am I gonna call it?!" Natsu said excitedly.

"You're really excited about this, aren't you?" Lucy genially commented to him as Natsu took out his pencil and started scribbling down notes on his sheet.

"Uh-huh, sure am!" Natsu answered back, not looking up.

Whether it was from Natsu's over-excitement over a pretend magical cat or everyone's attempts to talk over each other about what just went down, nobody appeared to notice that Lisanna had approached the table and was standing beside Natsu, just to the left of Lucy, having witnessed everything.

"Um, Natsu?" she shyly said, causing everyone at the table to turn to her.

"What is it, Lisanna?" Natsu asked, still writing on his sheet and not turning to look at her, unlike everyone else.

"Why don't you call it what we called our virtual cat?" she quietly suggested.

"Huh?"

Lucy found herself watching them curiously but oddly enough, she found herself feeling uneasy. She couldn't really place why, just that she did. Perhaps it was just the long continuous session making her tired. Still, she wanted to know more about this 'virtual cat' Lisanna mentioned although it wasn't difficult to assume that Lisanna and Natsu had a lot more history than she had previously presumed.

Natsu, dropping his pencil, finally looked up at her, "Happy? We called it Happy!" he said loudly in what was an obvious 'light-bulb' moment.

"Yeah, it's a good name, right?" Lisanna said, giggling a little.

"Gray, it's called Happy!"

"Whatever, Natsu."

"And I'm gonna give it some more of my fish."

The session bounced back between their two groups but it didn't take Luna, Salamander and the new addition of 'Happy' very long to rejoin the rest of them. The missing girl was still not found by either of them but they came to the conclusion that she was not in the maze – Erza was beginning to doubt the honesty of the citizen who requested their help and that the scent of the honey present was there to attract the ankheg.

The night wrapped up not too long after that and despite how Juvia's character had inadvertently split the party, she was a lot less outspoken afterwards and followed Erza's commands to the letter.

* * *

Once Lucy arrived back at her apartment and feeling particularly good about the latest D&D session, she felt too awake and excited to even thinking about trying to fall asleep anytime soon.

At the beginning of the night, she wasn't sure how everything would go with Juvia joining them but when whilst she was watching Natsu figuratively light up at rolling that critical success with his dice and then convinced a winged cat to join them – that made any grievances she had experienced beforehand was worth it. She overheard him telling Gajeel all about his character's new companion as she was leaving with Erza at the end of the night – it was something about how it's 'gonna love fish and adventures'.

It was then that she realized that she wanted to do something as a thank you to Natsu for a change and not by just giving him free food… although he probably wouldn't have minded that.

After kicking off her boots, Lucy went to her desk and opened up her laptop before taking out her D&D notes from her shoulder bag. She looked to where she had jotted down exactly what Gray had said that the creature was – a 'Tressym'.

Her aging laptop took a moment to boot up but once it had, she immediately searched for miniatures with the word 'Tressym'.

It didn't take her very long to find one; a small, unpainted cat with wings. Unfortunately, she couldn't find any that were already painted before it occurred to her that Natsu might appreciate the gesture more if she made an attempt to paint one herself. It couldn't be that hard, right?

A quick browse at all the little tins of paint she could get was her next search followed by paintbrushes. She figured that the cat would be ginger and white so she ordered those colors. Convinced that she had everything she needed to give painting a miniature a go, she ordered everything with express delivery, keen to receive it quickly so that she had enough time to paint it and bring it to the next D&D session.

One quick bath later and Lucy was comfortably in her bed, trying to sleep. It wasn't easy to fall asleep as the more she thought about it, the more she questioned whether she was being silly, ordering those things and but having no understanding of how to even paint a miniature. She could learn, right? She could try her best and that's what really matters. She could give in, give up or give it her all, right?

'… _Maybe I should_ _n't_ _buy things on a whim.'_

Still, as she closed her eyes and tried to imagine handing Natsu the completed miniature, she could picture his surprise clearly followed by that trademark small of his and that alone was encouraging to think about. She was going to give it her best shot, that was for sure.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I finally get to introduce Happy to the gang although in D&D spirit only! Is Lucy ever going to stop being oblivious about her own thoughts? Is Juvia going to learn about teamwork instead of hanging up on her insecurities? And are Gajeel and Juvia going to talk about the past eventually? So many questions yet still so many chapters to go to find it all out!
> 
> **Juvia is playing a 'Water Genasi Sea Sorcerer'. 
> 
> Next chapter: Something's up with Natsu and the girls team up!
> 
> D&D terms:  
> Splitting the Party: Normally, it's dangerous for the group to become separated and it's heavily advised you don't do this at risk of character deaths.  
> Tressym: A small winged cat that often become familiars for wizards. Google them, they're cute!  
> To have Advantage/Disadvantage: You get to roll twice and pick the higher result. A lot of spell/abilities or even other characters assisting your own can give you this. Having disadvantage is similar except you must take the lower of your rolls.  
> Grappled: Your character cannot move but can still attack.
> 
> SOME EXTRA NOTES:
> 
> I've received a couple of messages over the last week with a few peeps asking me a few things which I'll do my best to answer here for anyone who is curious:
> 
> Is Natsu gonna call Lucy 'Luce' eventually?  
> Eh, it's popular in fanfiction – in fact, I think it exists solely in fanfiction as I don't recall him using the nickname in the manga or anime. I don't mind it so much myself – I think it's okay to use in AU fics but I'm not a fan of seeing it in canon-compliant fics. So the answer is, maybe? I was tempted to have Lucy's D&D character be called that for a while!
> 
> How long does it take for me to write chapters?  
> I work on writing a chapter two to three times a week and writing 1000 words usually take me an hour depending on what the content is. Proofreading and editing usually take an extra evening to do. I don't have a schedule as I don't work well with that but so far I've been posting around once a week – it might take longer in the future as I start tackling the characters feelings/relationships.
> 
> Will this fic contain smut/lemons at some point?  
> I hadn't planned on that as I have no way of knowing the age demographic of this fic's readers and changing it to an 'M' might upset some people. It's hard to say…  
> I've also never written a lemon (that I've put out on the internet for everyone to read) so that will be challenging for me I think. This fic is meant to be a bit humorous, heart-warming, focused around friendship, a lil' drama and be romantic in places and so I don't know if adding a lemon would add anything or change the tone of the fic too much.  
> Let me know how you feel as a reader about this and I'll give some thought!
> 
> Do you have a tumblr?  
> I didn't but recently made one. I don't think I'll use it often as it's not really my thing but eh, who knows! My name on there is: onlyottermadness


	13. No Flames among the Dwarves

**Saturday, September 12th**

Instead of her regular walk over to Strauss Games that week, Lucy was power-walking. She was trying not to shake her bag too much due to its precious contents but she was really eager to show Natsu her little painted surprise.

Strangely, he had been quiet in group chat over the last few days. He and Gray were arguing over something trivial that Lucy had quickly gone about ignoring in favor of actually being productive around her apartment instead. That was on Wednesday evening and since then, Natsu had uncharacteristically said nothing further to anyone.

Lucy was well aware that the group chat wasn't used much until fairly recently, so at first, she thought that Natsu had simply found something else that preoccupied his interests or perhaps his job had suddenly demanded more of his time. She wasn't even sure if it had just been her that noticed Natsu's absence as nobody else said a word about it.

She once or twice thought about sending him a private message – just to see if he was alright but she didn't know if he'd think she was being nosy or pushy. She considered them to be friends but outside of D&D, they knew very little details about each other so was it really a 'proper' friendship?

When thinking back to Levy and how fast they had become friends, it had felt distinctly different. Their love of reading had made it easy for them to visit each other's places as well as just hanging out, talking about authors, new books and forming their own little private book club with them as the only two members. One stark difference between her friendship with Natsu and her was that Levy was a female friend.

Aside from Loke, she'd never had 'guy' friends before. Her father was never a fan of the idea of her being in male company unless he had previously approved of it. When she first met Loke, he was a flirt and a ladies man. He was someone who went all out to accommodate your needs but it was for those exact reasons that she found it hard to really connect with Loke as it felt as if he was borderline pushing for more and Lucy couldn't say she liked that feeling at all.

By contrast, Natsu was uniquely different. Often, she couldn't be sure if he even was paying attention to her sometimes but then he would surprise you by remembering small details that you had previously mentioned in passing. He didn't really seem to have any expectations (other than snacks being present in the vicinity) and he seemed to just genuinely enjoy her company without showing any further interest in, well, _that way._

It was both a nice feeling and a somewhat disconcerting one. Lucy had a habit of running into men that appreciated her looks a little too much. She could be vain, sure, but did she always have to attract perverts? Around Natsu however, he didn't seem to notice her in that way _at all._ Did he think she was attractive? Did he have a type at all? Did he like Lisanna back? When she asked herself why any of these questions even mattered to her, she convinced herself that she was just trying to understand who exactly her 'guy' friend was.

Furthermore, she had to ask herself of just when did she develop this habit about thinking about well… _everything_ while she was walking to the tabletop store every weekend? If she kept this up, she would definitely end up falling into the canal with all her all distracting thoughts.

She clutched her bag tighter to her side, remembering its newly added valuable contents – the tressym miniature. The small resin winged cat that had been placed in a small box for safekeeping. It had arrived previously on Wednesday morning along with the paints and paintbrushes. Frustratingly, the 'ginger' paint that she had been sent was clearly an azure blue instead! Since when have cats been blue?

Lucy resigned herself to having to paint the miniature blue after weighing up her options of either waiting for a replacement color and delaying painting the thing or just going with what she had been sent. Natsu surely wouldn't care that the cat was blue. It was supposed to be magical and it had wings after all.

Personally, she thought that her attempt at painting it, after numerous YouTube videos, was actually in the 'okay' category. Whereas the miniatures of everyone's characters were very well put together with careful and precise shading – hers seemed rather plain, but for her first and probably only attempt at painting something, she was proud of it. The only downside was that painting the small miniature and all its details took time away from her writing. She had no new paragraphs down for her novel this week, let alone chapters.

She finally arrived at the store, early as she often was, greeting Mira as she often did. Gray was at the table with Juvia, desperately pushing her away whilst complaining about her being able to see his notes. Lucy decided she wouldn't say hello just yet – she had no idea if Juvia would see that as 'love rivalry' or not. Neither Gajeel nor Erza were there but that was to be expected at the time she had arrived at.

A familiar feeling of deja vu hit Lucy again as once again, Natsu was also nowhere to be seen. This time however, she knew where to check first.

"Lucy?" Mira called as the girl in question was inches away from going down into the basement. Lucy halted upon hearing Mira.

"Yes?" she asked as Mira smiled at her, holding a clipboard and pen in her hands.

"I was wondering if I could get your opinion about something?" the shop owner asked.

Lucy took no issues with that and was more than happy to hear that Mira wanted her input on something, "Yeah, go ahead, I'm all ears!"

"Well, as you know, this is a family run business – I know you've yet to meet Elfman but I'm sure you'll meet him eventually," she explained, holding her pen to her cheek as she contemplated what she was saying. "Anyway, we're all keen cooks in our family! And we've been collecting our regular's opinions on whether they would buy our home-baked goods if we were to sell them in store?"

Hearing Mira call her a 'regular' was a pleasant feeling. It wasn't as if Lucy were keeping track but thinking about it, she had been coming to the store every weekend for several weeks now. Thinking a little more about it, Lucy couldn't help but begin to feel a little guilty that she herself had rarely bought more from the store aside from the odd snack and her D&D essentials. It wasn't as if she felt forced or obligated to but that thought was definitely there.

In that retrospect, freshly baked goods sounded like a great idea. Instead of snacks on candy and chips, perhaps Mira might be able to provide healthier options…

"I think that's a great idea, Mira! I would definitely buy some if that was an option!" Lucy answered. She had never tasted the Strauss' cooking before but she imagined it would taste amazing seeing as it was coming from them.

Mira seemed satisfied with her answer, jotting down something eagerly onto her clipboard, "Thanks, Lucy! Enjoy your game tonight!"

"I will!" Lucy replied before continuing her way down to the basement.

Thinking that she would find Natsu probably playing on the PlayStation or even taking another go at reading Lord of the Rings again, Lucy found herself inadvertently smiling and readying herself to greet him.

Unfortunately, her guess as to Natsu's location proved to be incorrect. Instead, the couch lay bare, the TV off and the PlayStation silent. Lucy felt disappointment sting at her lightly in the chest as she subconsciously gripped her shoulder bag a little tighter. She had really been hoping to give him the little surprise she had planned before D&D started.

' _He's probably just running late again today.'_

Not wanting to head back up immediately, Lucy decided to let her natural curiosity take root instead and survey the room on her own for a change. Naturally, she made her way to the bookshelf first and took her time to read the spines of each book – mostly D&D related material, some video game strategy guides that looked as if they had been there for at least a decade and of course, a small selection of novels including the Lord of the Rings trilogy that Natsu had grabbed the week before.

The board games were next to capture her attention – she had discovered that she was a force to be reckoned with in recent years, having easily beaten Levy, Loke and Cana at all the classics: Monopoly (Crocus Edition), Clue and Scrabble came to mind.

The games on the shelf were different from what she had expected. Titles such as 'Settlers of Catan', 'Carcassonne', 'Talisman' all boldly stood out on the bottom shelf yet the titles were new and foreign to her. One game took her interest, 'Discworld', as it shared its name with a popular satirical fantasy book series that she thoroughly enjoyed. A small, passing thought crossed her mind that maybe she should ask everyone to have a board game night at some point but she quickly pushed it aside when she assumed that everyone was perfectly happy with just playing D&D.

The random figurines were next but Lucy didn't find them particularly interesting. They appeared to be either video game characters or superheroes but Lucy couldn't say she was familiar with either. She briefly wondered if any of friends were fans of whomever these characters were or if they captured the interest of someone from outside the Fairy Tail group instead.

She had a good look at the posters, the video games and even checked out how soft each blanket was that sat on the shelf.

Deciding that she had spent long enough being nosy, Lucy decided to return upstairs and see if Gray and Juvia needed any help with setting up.

Once she had made her way to the table, taking her new seat on the opposite end of Gray, she was quick to ask how they were doing.

"Gray won't let Juvia help!" Juvia lamented, "He insists that his notes are for his eyes only but Juvia just wants to make everything tidy for him!"

"I don't want you to see what I have planned, it's nothing personal!" Gray insisted in return.

"Oh… well is there anything Juvia or I could do to help out instead?" Lucy tentatively asked, watching Juvia closely for her reaction and whether what she had asked was enough to set the woman's defenses off regarding Gray.

Juvia seemed to light up at Lucy throwing in her support and look to Gray hopefully, clasping her hands together.

Gray let out an exasperated sigh, "No, I'm fine alright. Just let me set up in peace."

Juvia's face dropped a little and Lucy couldn't help but feel for the poor girl who clearly just wanted to do something for the man of her affections.

Lucy decided to get out her character sheet, dice and notes in the meantime, her hand gently brushing against the boxed miniature of the tressym before delicately grabbing her own. Feeling its edges, her eyes inadvertently looked in the direction of the front entrance, hoping for the pink-haired recipient of her gift to show up but only found herself anxiously waiting instead.

"Oh, Lucy!" Juvia suddenly called, snapping Lucy away from her thoughts and causing her to face the newest member of the Fairy Tail group.

Juvia had moved over towards her, briefly taking Natsu's seat which strangely irked Lucy for a fraction of a second before she brushed off the feeling. Juvia was holding a small stack of papers in her hands which Lucy presumed were her D&D notes.

She was pleasantly surprised when Juvia dropped them onto the table and cautiously slid over a few of them towards her.

Lucy found herself looking at black and white pencil drawings of what was clearly, her character. Not unlike her miniature, Luna was standing there in a confident pose, holding a staff with a star on the end (not that her character had such an item but that felt irrelevant) as well as wearing the blue robe she had acquired a few sessions ago except that Juvia had designed it with a Celtic pattern in mind. What stuck out most was the smile her character wore – as if Juvia had captured exactly how she felt when she was adventuring with everyone.

"These are… amazing." Lucy softly whispered as she peered over the next drawing – her character again but this time in her Starry form with a constellation drawn over the connecting joints of her character.

"Do you really think so?" Juvia hesitantly asked, "Juvia has drawn Salamander and Metalicana too, see!"

Juvia slid over a few more drawings, both of Salamander fiercely surrounded by fire and Metalicana joyously playing the lute. Lucy's mouth stood agape at Juvia's talent for drawing as she ran her index finger lightly over each drawing presented to her.

"Juvia wanted to say sorry for last week so these drawings are for everyone…"

Lucy hadn't been feeling any animosity towards Juvia for her actions last week. Sure, her actions had left hers and Natsu's characters in a dangerous situation but it had all worked out in the end and Natsu had been able to find that winged cat which may have never happened otherwise.

"I didn't know you could draw so well, Juvia," Lucy said proudly to her and Juvia in turn, smiled wider. Neither of them noticed but Gray had been peering over his screen, watching their interaction and he too, was smiling fondly.

"Juvia likes to make things," Juvia responded, "Juvia wants to draw all of our adventures together from now on!"

Lucy nodded back, "I think that's a great idea!"

She was about to ask what other drawings Juvia had in the small paper stack that remained in her hands but withheld asking when the most obvious answer was going to be Gray-related. She swiftly decided against wanting to see what they were in order to avoid being accused of being a 'rival' yet again.

"Juvia wants you to keep the one of Luna. Natsu and Gajeel can have theirs when they arrive."

Lucy took the first drawing presented to her carefully, placing it to one side as she had no intention of folding it away. She could already picture in her mind where to frame and hang it on one of the walls of her apartment (assuming her landlady wouldn't take issue with that).

"Lucy, where is Natsu?" Juvia suddenly asked her and Lucy raised an eyebrow at her in turn.

' _Why would I know?'_

"Uh, I don't know, Juvia. Maybe he's just late today?" Lucy answered.

"Oh, Juvia thought you might know."

Lucy was just about to ask her why that was when Gray quickly spoke up,

"Flame brain just sent me a private message," the dungeon master said, "It says he can't make it tonight."

Lucy felt her heart drop instantaneously. She hadn't been expecting that. Late – yes, absent – no.  
Of course, she wanted to know why Natsu would suddenly skip a session with next to no notice, he seemed so dedicated and determined to go find this dragon that they were after. She didn't realize how small and nervous she sounded when she asked "Why?" to Gray.

"He doesn't say."

Juvia muttered something that Lucy didn't quite hear. Lucy was in half a mind to private message Natsu herself and ask him what was up. The thought of playing D&D without him there was well… well it wasn't right. He wasn't just their sorcerer that could dish out heaps of damage to just about anything (monsters, buildings, people…), but also the energy that propelled them all forwards in their goal – that's was at least how she saw it.

Juvia went on to show Lucy a drawing of her own character emerging from the lake where she had been introduced which Lucy appreciated but she couldn't help but wonder how D&D could possibly go without Natsu there.

Before long, Gajeel turned up and made very brief eye contact with Juvia before taking his seat.

"Where's Salamander?" he soon asked when he realized that his work colleague was not sitting in the chair opposite him.

"He's not coming tonight," Gray answered.

"Hmph, not surprisin'" Gajeel huffed, "He was bein' weird at work yesterday as well."

Lucy was about to ask how exactly but kept quiet when Juvia moved from her stolen seat over to Gajeel with the drawing of his character in her hands.

She was strangely trembling as she approached him, "For you, Gajeel… Juvia is-"

"Save it, Juvia. I don't want it, alright?" He said, waving her off, "Let's just play."

Lucy thought that was inexplicably rude. Juvia had clearly put her heart and soul into those drawings and Gajeel wouldn't even look at them? She was at a loss at what could have possibly happened between them to cause Gajeel to be so standoffish with her but Juvia didn't deserve to be brushed aside like that. Juvia shuffled back dejectedly back to her seat next to Gray, placing the drawings back onto her small stack of papers.

The bell rang out over the front door as the clock ticked to precisely 4 pm and the stomps of a familiar redhead approached the table.

"Good day all," Erza greeted them, making her way to her seat. Everyone greeted her back and Erza was quick to notice Natsu's absence.

"Where's Natsu this evening?" she asked.

"Couldn't make it," Gray repeated for the third time.

"Huh. That's unlike him. Is he alright?" Erza asked with genuine concern.

"Dunno. He didn't say why." Gray answered.

"I see," Erza said before turning to Lucy, "Do you know anything, Lucy?"

Lucy's face turned to one of surprise yet again, "Why would I know?" she asked. She was pretty sure she didn't have some sort of 'Natsu GPS monitor' but for some reason, everyone else seemed to think so.

"Oh. I just thought- never mind." Erza quietly responded.

"Juvia wants to know if we are still going to play?"

"Yeah, we can play without Natsu here, it's fine," Gray answered to which Juvia seemed happy with.

Lucy found she was feeling reluctant to get hyped as everyone set themselves up. She wasn't sure how the session was even going to work with one person missing from the game. Still, they had managed it before when she hadn't been able to attend.

As the group briefly chitchatted among themselves, Lucy found herself hovering over Natsu's name in the group chat on her phone, tempted to ask if he was okay. She however, couldn't bring herself to do it as she was not wanting to come across as intrusive. If he wanted to everyone to know why he wouldn't be attending D&D, he would have said. She didn't need to pester him for further information. For all she knew, he just had a cold or something and was getting some rest at home.

Putting away her phone, Lucy prepared herself to play her first session of D&D without Natsu present.

* * *

Without Natsu there to play as Salamander, Gray ruled that his character would just follow the party around in the meantime. This also applied to his new pet to which the dungeon master seemed more than relieved to not have to roleplay as it that week.

Lucy found herself being atypically quiet during the first couple of hours of their session. She was more than happy to have Erza take the lead and for Juvia to offer her thoughts on what they were going to do next. Everything felt calmer than last week and more rational ideas were thrown back and forth between them as they continued to look for the missing girl. Whilst they actually felt like that they were making progress, the usual flurry of excitement wasn't there (for Lucy at least). Erza was still suspicious of the fact that there was no visible evidence of a missing girl and maintained that the distraught citizen who had pleaded for their help may have in fact, been lying.

The hedge maze was soon left behind them and the party ultimately made the decision to return to the city to either confront the original quest giver or inform him that there was no sign of his daughter.

Needless to say, Erza's suspicions came to fruition when Titania was the first to find the man who was taking blatant actions to avoid them all. Lucy had to admit it was amusing to watch Gray roleplay as a man who was frightened by Titania – as if he was more than a little used to it.

At first, Titania questioned the guilty citizen but Lucy suspected Erza may have forgotten that she was supposed to be roleplaying as she soon turned to Gray, demanding answers. One intimidation check later and a gentle reminder to Erza that this was in fact just a game and the man was quickly spilling the beans.

"I have no daughter, I'm sorry! I'm sorry that I had to deceive you all!" the dungeon master roleplayed, "that terrible insect was destroying my land nearby and I thought being adventurers, you'd have no problem defeating it!"

"Why didn't you tell us the truth to begin with!" Erza yelled although looked as if she were about to actually throttle Gray.

"I'd thought you'd never agree to it! Nobody else cared enough to!" Gray had the man reply, "So I approached the friendliest looking of you all and made it all up!"

Erza turned to Lucy, "Luna, do you wish to say anything to this man before I march him to the guardhouse for further questioning?"

Lucy sat quietly in her chair, absently fiddling with the little tressym box in her bag that was sitting on her lap, "No, not really…" she muttered. She wanted to ask about why there was a random hedge maze in the forest or if the giant wasps were intentional as well but she found that she wasn't that interested in knowing. Erza was sure to find out anyway. Lucy didn't catch the concerned looks from the others directed her way as she stared down at her sheet, rereading the same list of her items over and over.

The group continued on and said nothing about Lucy's lack of enthusiasm. Gajeel seemed to grunt whenever Lucy responded at their attempts to roleplay with her character were often returned with her lacklustre effort.

She was entirely unaware of how apathetic she was coming across as until Gajeel suddenly requested a short recess to smoke and then she felt him tap her on the shoulder.

"Oi, bunny girl. Let's talk, outside." He demanded, gesturing with his head towards the door.

Lucy, although intimidated by the man, complied as she gingerly followed him out, wrapping her arms defensively around herself.

"What's with you tonight?" Gajeel asked as they turned around the corner of the building, lighting up a cigarette in the process.

"Oh, nothing. I'm fine." Lucy replied. She didn't think she was being dishonest, she was fine after all.

"Don't think so, you're moping cause Salamander ain't here," Gajeel told her bluntly as he leaned against the brick wall of the building as he exhaled another puff of unpleasant smoke.

Lucy, pretty much as a knee-jerk response could barely keep her voice down, "What?! No, I'm not!"

"Tch," Gajeel scoffed. "Whatever, but we already have that damn rain woman being all 'touchy-feely' over that ice bastard and I don't really wanna put up with your pining either when we're playin'."

"I'm not pining!" Lucy insisted, "It's just a bit… strange without Natsu here is all."

"It's some peace'n'quiet is what it is."

Irritation encompassed Lucy at how callous this man could be at times as she dug her fingernails into her palms. Why did Gajeel even want to play D&D with them in the first place if he found everyone annoying?

"Why do you even play, Gajeel?" Lucy outright asked him.

"What kind of dumb ass question is that?" He retorted.

"You don't seem to like anyone… you're always rude to Natsu and now with Juvia-"

Chucking the remainder of cigarette to the concrete ground, Gajeel turned to her, "Don't go there, bunny girl. That ain't any of your business."

"But-"

"Look, I like playing D&D, alright?" He said, "And for the most part, you guys are alright. Salamander just pisses me off from time ta' time."

Lucy raised an eyebrow at him as well as feeling the inexplicable need to stick up for her pink-haired friend, "Don't you work with him though?"

"Yeah, and? He's a pain the ass but he gets the job done eventually."

"But you're always calling him things! Last week, you called him out for his spelling and that's-"

Gajeel barely held in a chuckle at hearing that, "Tch, do you even know the guy, bunny girl? That shit never bothers him."

"I… uh..."

"Yeah, thought so. Now can we get back to playin' with you quittin' your mopin' already?"

"I'm not moping!"

"Yeah, sure you ain't." Gajeel grunted, pushing her aside and indicating for her to follow, "Come on."

Lucy hesitantly followed, feeling more aggravated by the man than before. She didn't want to admit to it but he had a point. She considered everyone at the table to be her friends, not just Natsu, and just because they played well together didn't mean she couldn't find equal enjoyment from roleplaying more with the other group members. She was still concerned as to Natsu's sudden absence; she was considering whether he perhaps had family problems – not that she knew anything about his family.

She grabbed a bottle of water from Mira on her way back to the table, taking her seat and aside from the curious look that Juvia gave her, she felt much more ready to participate in D&D.

"Everything alright, Lucy?" Erza asked after a moment to which Lucy nodded.

"Yep!" She answered with a promising smile, "All good!"

* * *

An hour later, the group were on their way again. Salamander was 'there' but not really. Gray had Natsu's character do things that he'd thought it would do; set fire to random things, say daft statements and mockingly go on about how hungry he was. Lucy wanted to point out that his character had more substance than that but after Gajeel's little talk, she decided to keep silent and let Gray have his fun.

During their travels, everyone's characters relayed to Juvia's what their current mission was and asked her whether she would be interested in joining their guild. Juvia mysteriously had 'rain woman' insist she was there to 'aid' them all in some form or another but wouldn't divulge any details as to why. She stated she was more than happy to join their guild once they eventually returned to their guild hall.

Their journey as a group had led them to the entrance of a cave. Titania, who had the map that led them to the vague whereabouts of the dragon's 'lair', insisted that the cave would lead them to a faster route, under a mountain.

"As you approach the cave, you can all see a large wooden sign by the entrance. Do any of you try to read it?" Gray asked them all as he described the scene before them.

"Yes, what does it say?" Erza was quick to reply.

"You have no idea."

"Well, can anyone else read it?" Erza asked.

"Depends, do any of you know Dwarvish?" Gray calmly asked, looking at each member at the table.

"Yeah. Metalicana can," Gajeel said.

"Alright, then you can see that the sign is a welcome message to a Dwarvish settlement and that they ask you to wear your beards at all times."

The group was silent for a second as they processed what Gray had said.

"I'm sorry, did you say beards?" Erza asked incredulously.

"Oh Gray, you're so creative! I love it when you come up with stuff like this!" Juvia cooed, "Juvia would wear a beard if that's what my beloved desired!"

"Gimme a break…" Gajeel mumbled. Lucy caught those words and saw the disgruntled expression he wore as Juvia continued to compliment Gray and he in turn, protested she stop it already.

A thought occurred to Lucy and she couldn't resist winding up the peeved man just a little, thinking of it as payback. She slyly leaned over towards him and whispered, "Are you jealous, Gajeel?"

Gajeel cranked his head towards her with his eyes screwed up in a concoction of disbelief and aversion, "You're way off base, Blondie."

Lucy sat back, unsure of what to make of his response. He snorted, turning back to the game, "Now quit bein' nosy already," he muttered loud enough for only her to hear.

Gajeel didn't seem to appreciate the way Juvia was behaving around Gray at all and Lucy was quick to conclude that perhaps their falling out was related to that or maybe there were some unrequited feelings… which judging from Gajeel's genuine reaction, she was one hundred percent wrong about.

' _Ugh, why_ _are people_ _so complicated sometimes…'_

"Alright everyone, we're going to need to fashion ourselves some fake beards," Erza declared to party, "So if we hunt for long-haired wildlife perhaps we can-"

"Juvia thinks we should see if that's really necessary. None of us are Dwarves," Juvia was quick to say, suddenly feeling bold enough to cut into what Erza was saying.

Erza was quiet for a moment and Lucy wasn't entirely sure whether the commanding redhead would respond aggressively or not.

"You make a good point, let's find out from the dwarves themselves," Erza eventually said, earning nods from both Juvia and Gajeel.

It occurred to Lucy that that might not even be needed either, "Should I do a history check first?" she said, remembering that her character was adept at that skill and might know something about Dwarven culture.

"Go ahead, what are you checking for exactly?" Gray asked from behind his screen.

"To see if Luna knows whether Dwarves would expect this from us or not."

"Sure, roll your dice."

"Juvia will also roll!" the blue-haired girl piped up from Lucy's former seat.

Lucy rolled but was quickly disappointed by her result of a 7. Her combined total was an 11 but that was fairly average as it goes.

"Juvia rolled a 14! Juvia must know the answer!"

Gray hushed Juvia quietly, "Alright, alright. Luna, whilst she knows of some Dwarven culture, it's not enough to say for sure whether she knows if they need to have a beard to enter their domain."

Lucy wasn't impressed that Juvia had beaten her character at something she believed herself to be good at. She liked that she could contribute to the party in that manner but at the end of the day, it was all down the luck of the dice – the newly painted Tressym miniature sitting in her bag was a good reminder of that. Besides she told herself, it was nice to see Juvia getting into the spirit of the game and she hadn't been called a 'love rival' once that evening so far.

Gray half-turned to Juvia, looking unsure of what he was about to say. Lucy assumed that as Juvia rolled well, he was bracing himself for an enthusiastic response from the woman.

"Okay, 'rain woman', you know that none of you need to wear beards as Dwarves recognize that this is something specific to them and not a rule that outsiders need to follow. You also know that Dwarves still appreciate it if you have one regardless." Gray explained as Juvia's smile suddenly grew wider and wider.

"Juvia will tell everyone this information! Thank you, Gray!"

"Nice job Juvia- I mean 'rain woman'," Erza said, correcting herself, "Let us make our way to the Dwarven settlement then."

Gray went on to describe how their party made their way through the tunnels that burrowed through rock beneath a mountain range. Their path was lit by burning sconces and the journey itself took a while but was wholly safe.

When they arrived at the Dwarven town, Gray went on to describe the small stone buildings and the open cavern that they were all situated in. Smoked bellowed from their forges, braziers lit their streets and jolly singing could faintly be heard in the background. Gray also briefly paused in his description to complain about the fact that the sound system was still broken and he was unable to play the music he wanted for them all to hear. He went on to describe how every citizen they could see was a Dwarf and every single one of them had a beard.

Erza had Titania quickly flag down a random passing Dwarf, seeking answers to all the questions she had.

'Do we need beards too?',  
'Which way do we go from here?',  
'Are there any suitable accommodations to stay in?'

Lucy felt for Gray who had to answer Erza in the best 'Dwarven' accent he could muster – but he quickly had to give up on that and just speak normally as Erza sought out more answers and with her rolling very successfully on her intimidation check which seemed to be equally as effective on the dungeon master as it did the characters he was roleplaying as.

Needless to say, they did not need beards as Juvia suggested although she had to admit it would have been quite funny if all their characters had all turned up wearing fake beards.

"The Dwarf tells you to visit 'The Song and Stoat' drinking hall – a popular place that the more adventurous Dwarves might have the answers to," Gray finally said, forgoing to accent.

Everyone agreed that's where they would head and as the building's name implied, there was drinking and singing – mostly about gold.

Until that point in the evening, Gajeel had displayed an array of disinterested or frustrated emotions as they played together and Lucy hadn't wanted to push his firmly placed boundaries. However, she easily spotted the way his attention was immediately captured when Gray had mentioned the words 'song', 'singing' and 'music' in his description of the drinking hall.

It didn't take long for him to speak up, "I wanna perform with my lute for them all."

"That's a wonderful idea, Gajeel!" Juvia squeaked with just an ounce of overenthusiasm.

Gajeel was quick to nonchalantly brush off her compliment, "I'm gonna get up on their stage-"

"-There isn't a stage." Gray was quick to state.

"What fuckin' place doesn't have a stage?" Gajeel barked back.

"This one doesn't." Gray simply repeated.

"Fine! I'm gonna sit on a stool and perform in the corner!"

"The stool is really small so you look a bit strange but uh, roll a performance check I guess."

Gajeel rolled his metal dice without saying anything more and everybody patiently waited for the result. Much like Lucy had just felt disappointed not too long ago, she could only imagine that Gajeel was feeling the same when he rolled a 4 for his performance.

"So yeah, your performance sucks," Gray bluntly told him.

"Even with my bonuses?" Gajeel asked, staring down at his sheet.

"Yep. The Dwarves begin to boo, a few tomatoes get thrown your way," Gray said as he rolled behind his screen, "… but none of them hit you luckily."

"Fucks sake- fine!" Gajeel yelled, "I'm gonna show 'em what else I can do! I'm gonna play the flute I picked up from that mine way back!"

Gray's face twisted into a shocked expression as Erza's eyes widened. Juvia looked at him, confused, as did Lucy. Was he referring to that flute that Erza suspected was cursed and took for safekeeping? If so, she could only assume that Erza had Titania entrust it to him at some point during their campaign.

"Gajeel, are you sure?" Erza calmly asked him. "I gave it to you to so you could get it identified first."

"Yeah, it's fine. What's the worst that could happen?" Gajeel gruffly answered, "I'm gonna show these fuckin' dwarves what real music is."

Everyone waited at the table as Gray turned pages of his sheets of paper, looking completely thrown off by Gajeel's sudden decision.

Lucy wasn't even sure what was so ominous about a flute or how it could be cursed. She never thought to ask as, back then, she was already trying to digest all the new information that she could about playing D&D and didn't think to add 'curses' to that list of things she immediately needed to know.

After a minute of baited silence, Gray finally spoke, "Alright, Metalicana goes to play the flute that's made of bone to the unimpressed audience of Dwarves…"

Gajeel either drummed his fingers with impatience along the rim of the table or perhaps even he had a tune in mind that he was currently thinking of, Lucy had no way of knowing. Erza on the other hand looked rather uneasy about the situation.

"As you play begin to play the flute, you quickly begin to feel sleepy. In fact, everyone in the hall also begins to feel themselves getting tired," Gray explained. "You're all going to need to roll constitution saving throws."

Lucy recalled that she had encountered this before – back at the drinking game session when they had a public audience in the store. Whilst she was not 'proficient' in this stat, she had used a cantrip to her advantage back then.

"Can I use my resistance cantrip?" she quickly asked the dungeon master.

"Sorry, no. The effects are already happening and so you have to react to it straight away."

' _I should have used it before he started playing… how could I have been so short-sighted to not have realized…'_ she thought.

One by one, everyone began to roll.

Erza was first and she easily succeeded her roll with her character's bonuses.

Juvia was next and also succeeded but only just.

Gray rolled for Natsu's character and it failed, leaving Lucy to wonder if Gray would be harsh enough to harm Natsu's character when Natsu wasn't even there. She didn't think that would be fair at all if that were to happen. Gray even rolled for the tressym that was following Salamander around but announced that it was also unaffected, much like Titania and the rain woman weren't.

Lucy was about to roll her dice, nervous as to what fate was to befall her character.

Gajeel was faster and rolled fairly confidently. It was easy to see why; from where Lucy sat, she could see that his character's constitution was high and gave him a decent bonus.

That didn't make a difference when Gajeel rolled yet another 4.

"Fuck. Shit!" Gajeel swore as he looked over the rest of the table with worried eyes.

Lucy wanted to feel bad for him – she did on some level – but at the same time, he just had to go and pull this reckless move just to save his pride.

She rolled her own dice and took a sharp breath, hoping she would succeed her roll.

It was a 16.

Immediate relief washed over her although that was quickly replaced by anxiety for the members of their group that hadn't succeeded their rolls.

"So, Titania, rain woman and Luna – you don't feel the effects of whatever the flute did. They simply pass over you. However…" Gray explained, "Metalicana and Salamander are unable to keep their eyes open and they both crash to the floor, unconscious."

"I'm gonna check on Salamander immediately," Lucy was quick to say without even giving it a moment's thought.

"Yeah, 'course you are. What about me, huh?" Gajeel asked but Lucy ignored his implication. What kind of a friend would she be if something bad happened to Natsu's character when he wasn't even there?

"Juvia shall check!" Juvia announced, moving her fish miniature towards Metalicana across the table.

"Don't bother, I'm fine," Gajeel responded but she seemed to ignore him.

Gray was next to speak, "Right, as you two are going to check on your companions; Titania, you noticed that all the dwarves in the drinking hall have also crashed to the ground, unconscious. I would also like you to do a perception check."

"Alright," Erza said, rolling her dice.

"You too, Juvia, since you're close to the flute," Gray added to which Juvia complied without hesitation.

"What about me?" Lucy asked.

"No, you're busy checking on flame brain's character right now," Gray answered her.

Erza revealed that she rolled well yet again wheres Juvia did not.

"Okay, Titania – you see the flute that Gajeel was playing begin to emit a cloud of dark, purple-black smoke. Within seconds, it begins to shake, do you do anything?"

"I shall warn everyone that's still conscious to be on their guard," Erza stated, looking to both Juvia and Lucy.

Lucy nodded affirmatively although she had yet to do any kind of check on Salamander to see if he was alright. She made a mental note to make sure she saved some spells for any healing that might be needed later.

Gray took a deep breath before he spoke loudly with a small bout of exhilaration, "Titania, you see a cloud of darkness burst forth from the flute, and you catch a glimpse of a terrifying-looking monster with dark wings, horns, sharp teeth and long arms with claws before it suddenly takes an incorporeal form."

"Oh no!" Juvia gasped, "What should we do?!"

"Prepare to fight whatever evil that has just been unleashed upon this town!" Erza vociferously answered.

"But what about Salamander and Metalicana?" Lucy added and she wondered if this encounter was going to be equally as troublesome like her previous one. It seemed that once again, they were going to fight without their full group.

"The incorporeal form of the monster moves towards you Luna," Gray interjected before anyone could offer instruction as to what to do about their unconscious comrades.

"What? Why me!" Lucy yelped although Gray didn't answer her.

"The monster moves right through you, Luna, as if it didn't even recognize that you were there at all," Gray continued. "Then it disappears through the wall behind you, out of sight."

"Quickly! We have to go after it!" Erza yelled out, "Before it harms any of the townsfolk!"

"Juvia thinks she would stay with Metalicana," Juvia said quietly.

"Just go," Gajeel muttered back.

"No, Juvia must stay!" she reaffirmed.

Gajeel's eyes narrowed at her, darkening, "Stop it. Just go help them already."

Juvia seemingly didn't pick up this as she looked back on him pleadingly, "But Juvia wants to make things better. Juvia misses-"

"No! I ain't doing this here!" Gajeel seethed, "Is that why you're playing, huh?"

Juvia bowed her head somewhat, "Juvia just wants to help because-"

Gajeel's fist swiftly thumped onto the table as he became more visibly frustrated, "Well I ain't gonna sit around all over again and watch you put yourself through hell n' back 'cause of your same damn mistakes!"

Lucy was becoming quickly aware that the confrontation between the two was no longer about D&D and found herself still, at a loss at what was suddenly unfurling before her.

"Gajeel, that's enough!" Gray yelled, bolting upwards in his chairs and glaring at the biker warningly with emerging anger.

"You ain't got any right to say anything either-"

"I don't care man, don't yell at Juvia like that!"

Erza was quick to stand too, leaning over the table with her palms against the wooden surface as she looked between the dungeon master and the angry Dragonborn player, "Stop this! This isn't the time nor place to start fighting!" she demanded.

"Y'know what? Fuck this!" Gajeel yelled, slamming his chair away from the table and stomping in the direction of the front entrance.

The table was met with unceremonious silence in the wake of what had just happened between them. Mira could be heard briefly echoing Gajeel's name as the front door slammed shut and the small bell rang out furiously in response.

Lucy felt her breath hitch in her throat as Juvia sat silent, the girl shaking only slightly as she looking pleadingly towards Gray for comfort.

"Juvia…" Erza uttered but looked amiss as to what to say as her eyes darted between her and Lucy. Lucy understood the subtle gesture; she was the only one who had no context as to what that argument was really about and they were unsure if to say anything more with her there.

Lucy wasn't even sure what she would say. Two people that she considered her friends were at odds with each other over something that had manifested mid-game. A small part of her blamed herself for aggravating Gajeel a little earlier – it probably didn't help, the man had been on edge all evening. That still didn't mean that his yelling like that was okay by any standard, especially in a public setting, even if there were no visible customers in the vicinity.

"I'm gonna go talk to him," Gray said, leaving the table and pausing for a second to place his hand on Juvia's shoulder comfortingly. She welcomed it openly, gently rubbing her cheek against the back of his hand before he briskly pulled away as he left for the door.

"Juvia, do you need a moment? We can go downstairs." Erza decided to say to which Juvia shyly nodded.

Both of the women got up, ignoring their belongings at the table. If a dodgy customer were to turn up, their belongings would most assuredly be safe under the watchful gaze of Mira.

Erza placed her arm around Juvia's shoulders as she led her towards the basement, pausing briefly beside Lucy who was still sitting, unsure of what to do with herself.

"Lucy, come on. Let us comfort our friend," Erza commanded.

Lucy, quickly heedful at hearing this, sat up and turned her head towards Erza, mouthing Erza's words as if to be sure of what she had just heard.

' _Our friend.'_

It was a few minutes later that they were all comfortably sitting on the couch with Erza attentively sitting close by in the same armchair that she seemed to favor during the movie night some weeks back. Lucy noted how Juvia looked downcast yet remained quiet, her face apologetic and her voice soft.

"Juvia just wants to fix things with Gajeel," Juvia finally said. "Juvia knows she did wrong."

Erza reached over to gently place her hand on Juvia's shoulder, "It's not all on you, Juvia."

"Juvia thinks so."

Lucy sat patiently to Juvia's right, listening and holding her tongue on what she thought of Gajeel's sudden and uncalled for behavior. Whatever Juvia was trying to do – she surely meant well by it, even if Gajeel was unwilling to listen.

Without warning, Juvia turned to Lucy, locking eyes with her, "Juvia thinks Lucy should know."

Lucy gulped nervously and even with that little niggling desire inside of her to want to know what exactly what was going on between her group members, she didn't want to be told just because she happened to be there.

"It's fine, Juvia. You don't have to feel like you're forced to tell me anything," she managed to say under Juvia's contemplative stare.

"Juvia insists," the blue-haired woman spoke once more, "it's not fair that Lucy doesn't know."

Not wanting to argue with her nor deny her as Gajeel did, Lucy hesitantly nodded to which Juvia welcomed.

"Juvia transferred schools with Gajeel from Oak Town when she was sixteen years old…"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sort of glad that I got to write a D&D chapter without Natsu there as he has a habit of stealing the spotlight from the other characters with his loud personality.  
> I know Gajeel is coming off as mean and angry – I've been a little bit cruel to him in his past in this fanfic which will become more evident in later chapters.  
> Looking back at the Fairy Tail chapter/episode '413', I decided to write Juvia in as a very creative/artistic individual.
> 
> For the readers out there that don't play D&D – feel free to PM me if any part of the D&D mechanics confuses you and I'll do my best to explain it! I'm trying to write in different parts/tropes of D&D gradually into each session the group plays so it's not overwhelming but what could be obvious to me might not be so clear to everyone else.
> 
> Also, I've read the PMs about smut/lemons as well as reading some of the feedback in the reviews. I think I'll be going with my original intent of having no smut. Sorry to those who would have liked/requested it but I think I'll go without it for this fic!
> 
> Next chapter: A glimpse into the past and Lucy has some thinking to do.
> 
> D&D Terms:  
> Demon: Usually a type of fiend from another realm in D&D called 'The Abyss'. They are generally chaotic evil in nature (although the dungeon master is free to use the alignment system how they please) and mostly just want to kill you. Not to be confused with 'devils' which instead fall into the category of making deals and corrupting/stealing your soul.  
> Cursed Item: A cursed item is usually a magical item that has a hidden curse attached to it which can usually be removed with the 'Remove Curse' spell. The curse is usually unleashed when a character chooses to wear or use the item.


	14. Secrets of the Water Witch

**November, Three Years Ago**

Juvia approached her new school feeling full of energy and optimism even though it was pouring down with cold rain. She found it soothing to listen to as she kept herself dry under her wide umbrella and a thick coat with faux fur trimmings.

Her previous school at Oak Town had been suddenly closed amid talks of funding scandals, bribery, as well as corruption and she had been one of the unlucky students that had been transferred to a school to the next town over – Magnolia High. Despite having to travel to the next town over by bus every day, Juvia was certain that the change would be good for her.

It didn't take long before she was outside by the tall gates of the school where she waited patiently for the only other student to transfer here: Gajeel Redfox.

They were vaguely aware of each other although she already knew that he was one year older than she was. He previously had a reputation as the guy you didn't want to mess with, mostly due to his tall and muscular build and fierce gaze. He no longer would go out of his way to bully anyone, not as he did a few years before, but if someone started something with him, he wouldn't let them forget it.

Within a few minutes of waiting, Gajeel arrived and he greeted her casually. She hadn't seen him on the same bus as her earlier but Juvia didn't think it was worth questioning on how exactly he got to school that morning.

"Good morning, Gajeel," she replied, "are you ready to see what our new school is like?"

"Yeah," he answered gruffly, "looks like a dump if you ask me."

"Juvia thinks it looks quaint."

"Whatever, we still doin' our deal?"

Juvia paused for a moment as she rehearsed what they had previously agreed on once they had heard the news of their transfer weeks ago. "Juvia hopes so. Juvia will watch out for you."

"Yeah, and I'll make sure no one messes with you either," Gajeel confirmed for her.

Their previous school also had somewhat of a rivalry with Magnolia High, especially when it came to sports. Even their school mascots were at odds with each other although it did make for an amusing spectacle at times – two men dressed as a fairy and a ghost and engaging in a fistfight randomly during matches.

"Juvia thinks this will be a nice school."

"You might be the only one who thinks that. I gotta bad feeling about the place…"

Juvia ignored his pessimism. She fully intended to find a new circle of friends that wouldn't push her away as the last ones did.

"C'mon, let's go inside," Gajeel said, his heavy footsteps splashing into the puddles surrounding them as they continued along the gravel path towards the main entrance, "You still plannin' to do all that swimming stuff?"

"Yes, Juvia can't wait to see the school's pool."

"Hmph. If rains anymore you could probably finda' puddle big enough out here to swim in instead."

"Juvia likes the rain."

"Yeah, okay, 'rain woman'."

"Let's go get our schedules before we're late!" Juvia said, dashing ahead slightly. She personally couldn't wait to find out what her new school had in store for her.

' _ **J**_ _ **uvia was optimistic back then.**_ _ **Juvia**_ _ **just wanted a fresh start with new friends. Gajeel was to watch out for her and her to watch out for him. Juvia did not know what to do**_ _ **other than to**_ _ **tell Gajeel about anyone that might have it out for him.'**_

* * *

**March, the following year**

Juvia was putting away her books into her slightly beat-up locker as she hummed gently along to the music playing into her Bluetooth earpieces, feeling joyful about the upcoming remainder of her day; art class followed by swim practice. Making the swim team had come easily for Juvia and despite making the cut, her fellow team members were yet to warm up to her.

However, her original goal of making some new friends at her new school hadn't exactly gone to plan. During her first week, she had tried to sit with a group of girls at their table during lunch period in the cafeteria and despite her infused interest in their topic of conversation; something about a reality TV show – she found that they had shunned her when she tried to add her own opinions to the conversation.

She'll admit it wasn't a great moment, but she wasn't ready to give up and thus, continued on with trying to find the right people to mingle with.

Unfortunately, she quickly discovered that watching groups of various friendship circles from afar and occasionally following them as she sought a way to naturally include herself in their conversations hadn't worked either. She was met with accusations of being 'creepy' and 'stalking' which she denied as such as she had no intentions of doing something like that. She just wanted to find a way to make friends as a relatively new student to the school.

Now it was early March and the beginnings of spring had already begun to emerge outside. Still, plenty of time to form friendships, she told herself.

"Hey, I'm trying to talk to you!"

Juvia swiftly turned on her heel along with pulling her earpieces out to face whoever was trying to get her attention. Her heart was already beginning to beat just a little faster at the thought that someone _actually_ wanted to approach _her_ for a change.

She was met with the gleaming eyes of one of the most popular guys in school – Bora. His dark eyes, slick blue hair and the unusual tattoo above his eyebrow made him a heartthrob for so many of the girls that attended. Juvia would be lying to herself if she were to admit she wasn't one of them. He had an air of confidence about him, even whilst he was forced into wearing the school's uniform like everybody else and she had overheard from many of her 'observances' of her fellow students that he had a 'way with words' although she was unsure what they meant by that.

"Juvia is sorry!" she yelped and his lips formed a slight smile at her response.

"No need to apologize, especially coming from a beautiful lady such as yourself!" He said charmingly to her.

Juvia found herself profusely blushing. _'He thinks Juvia is beautiful?'_

Bora took a step closer towards her and Juvia in turn, stepped only slightly back until she felt her back pressed against the lockers.

"I wanted to invite you to a party of mine this weekend…" Bora said as he eyed her up and down. "It's a pool party and I heard that you are quite impressive when it comes to the water."

"Yes, Juvia loves to swim…"

"Excellent! Then can I expect you to be there?"

Normally, Juvia would have jumped at the opportunity to attend another student's party – combined with the fact that someone was asking her to be there too. But for whatever reason, she found herself hesitating. She wasn't used to someone telling her nice things about herself. It felt nice but it felt suspicious too.

Juvia took a nervous gulp as she hastily tried to think of how to respond to Bora. After a few seconds of staring into his piercing smile, she answered him.

"J-Juvia will be there."

Bora, seemingly satisfied with her answer, winked as his lips curled into a cocky smirk. "Great, see you then!" He said and then he left just as quick as he came, a loose satchel strung over his shoulder as he pridefully strode away.

When Juvia later met up with Gajeel for lunch for their 'check-in', she was quick to tell him all about her encounter and had great trouble containing her excitement.

"He's slimy as fuck," Gajeel bluntly told her.

"He was nice to Juvia," she responded.

"I've seen him around. He's like that with all the women, even the teachers."

"He knows about Juvia's love for swimming."

"Not that hard to guess that when you're on the swim team."

"Juvia thinks she should give him a chance."

"Do what you wanna do – I still think he's a slimy fuck."

' _ **J**_ _ **uvia chose to ignore Gajeel's own observances and attend th**_ _ **e**_ _ **pool party. It wasn't long before Bora was to be Juvia's first boyfriend.'**_

* * *

**Ju** **ne** **,** **later that year**

"Hey, water girl. Is it true about what people have been saying about Bora?"

Juvia huffed as she was pestered by yet another gossipy woman, asking questions about her boyfriend. She was trying to eat her lunch at her usual picnic table, outside, alone.

Gajeel hadn't shown up that lunchtime. They had been checking in less and less with each other in recent months. That was fine, they had both settled into their new school and any threat with being affiliated with their previous school was well and truly over. None the less, Juvia thought it had been nice that they still had each other's backs regardless.

"Juvia does not want to listen to more rumors about her beloved," she answered the irritating girl.

"Well ya should, they're saying he slept with Sandy and Laura last weekend. I think it's likely."

Juvia snorted with annoyance before shooting a scalding look at the woman who had nothing better to do than to spread nonsense gossip. Her glare alone was enough to make the pest back off and Juvia returned to eating her lunch in peace.

' _Bora would not do such a thing.'_

As Juvia finished up, taking a swig from her water bottle and preparing to attend her next class, she was snapped away from the disturbing but definitely false rumors that were plaguing her mind to the sound of a large fist slamming down onto the table.

"That bastard's no good for you, Juvia," spoke the voice of her only friend.

"Not you as well, Gajeel," Juvia uttered back as she glared at him with equal annoyance as she did only moments before. This had little effect on the disgruntled man before her.

"I mean it. I've heard him in the damn showers over by the fucking stadium, bragging about all the women he's been with," Gajeel angrily said as he glared back, "I'm looking out for you dammit! Confront the bastard already!"

"No, it must be a misunderstanding. Bora would never do that."

"I'll beat his ass if you just give me the word."

"No, Gajeel. That's enough. Bora is good to Juvia."

"For fuck's sake, why the fuck aren't you listening?!" Gajeel yelled out in frustration. He, however, didn't get a chance to say more as their argument was interrupted by someone suddenly shouting nearby.

"Hey, everyone!" called out a masculine voice, both Juvia and Gajeel's attention snapped to the man that was now commanding everyone's attention. Both recognized him as Rocker, one of the unsuccessful swim team tryouts. "Natsu's done it again! The music room caught fire! It's wild!"

Gajeel's eyes widened upon hearing that and he made no attempt to conceal his swiftly rising anger, "That punk's done what?!" he yelled out, leaving Juvia at her table and taking off in the direction of the aforementioned room.

' _ **Juvia did not want to believe Gajeel. Juvia was happy that Bora wanted to be with Juvia.'**_

* * *

**October** **,** **Two Years ago**

Juvia clutched her latest gift for her boyfriend to her chest, confident that it would please him and help quash any more nasty rumors about his 'apparent' infidelity. It was only a small teddy bear holding a heart-shaped pillow but the bear itself was blue – the same tone as both of their hair colors.

She made her way to the corridor where Bora's locker was, expecting to find him there. Perhaps he would be preparing for his next class or maybe chatting to some of his friends, not that she knew any of their names yet. She never asked him why she was yet to be introduced.

What she did not expect to find when she turned the corner was to spot her boyfriend with his body pressed up against another woman's, his lips eagerly locked with hers as he leaned in close with his palms pressed firmly against the lockers behind her.

For Juvia, time felt as if it were slowing around her as she could only look on and watch Bora's betrayal take place before her very eyes in the arms of some blonde floozy.

Juvia didn't know if her heart was breaking or not but she felt a dull ache in her chest and only held her gift tighter to herself as a result.

Then came the anger that accompanied the knowledge that she had defended Bora from everyone who said he was seeing multiple women. Even Gajeel had told her that it wasn't just rumors but she refused to believe him.

She believed in Bora. He told her all those nice, pretty things about herself. She thought he was charming and told him as much, showering him with her adoration and gifts. A part of her still didn't want to believe what she was seeing and she turned her head away sharply, hoping that when she looked back, the scene before her would have never of happened.

But it didn't and Bora remained blissfully unaware that she was standing there at the end of the corridor.

Her anger boiled within in like an overheated kettle and she felt as if she would burst into a torrent of unbridled rage at any moment. She wanted him to pay for his perfidy, for all the lies and broken trust.

Then the tears came.

She didn't know when was the last time she had shed a tear for anything. But a single tear was enough to bring about a surge of them as the obvious truth before her which was no longer possible to be ignored.

A small sob escaped her lips and that was enough to finally catch the shameless attention of her boyfriend.

Instead of jumping back, he gently pulled away from the frazzled but keen blonde that he had pinned in between his arms and simply smirked at Juvia.

"Oh, it's you," he said, looking mildly amused at Juvia's reaction. "We need to talk."

"Juvia doesn't… understand," she uttered, wiping at the droplets on her cheeks.

"Look – I've been wanting to say it for a while now but I wanna break up," Bora said with next to no care or emotion in his words. It was if Juvia was a pet he had grown bored of and wanted to re-home at the earliest convenience.

"Juvia doesn't want to-"

"You're just not as much fun to be around as I'd hoped."

' _ **Juvia cried a lot that week. Juvia wished she had listened to Gajeel sooner. Juvia was sad that she was not good enough for Bora.'**_

* * *

**November** **,** **One month later**

The last month hadn't been easy at all in the slightest. Juvia wasn't even sure how she was supposed to describe every occurrence, thought and feeling to anyone who should ask. First, there was the heartbreak, then the distrust of anyone's intentions, then the whispers and murmurs in the corridors from the other girls and then finally seeing her ex-boyfriend with his arms around another pretty girl's shoulders. To say that her mood was capricious was an understatement.

Juvia had sought solace by swimming more than ever. Despite her generous bust area and shorter stature, her speed remained unmatched in the water – those with the athletic physique being mysteriously dumbfounded how on Earthland that the woman could have such an advantage over them. Juvia found that doing her front crawls more aggressively, with each stroke propelling her even further, that her inner turmoil found calm and peace for just a short while.

She was grateful that she was welcome to swim anytime outside of her own classes or pre-scheduled usage of the pool by another teacher. It was one of the many perks of being on the swim team that she thoroughly indulged on.

Gajeel had been mysteriously absent from her social life – Juvia had seen him in the school corridors and he responded to her messages via phone (although delayed) but it was as if something was had distracted him entirely.

Juvia didn't want to admit to it but she had nearly lost all hope that she would ever make friends at this school.

When Juvia finally left the pool, changed back into her uniform after showering and drying herself off, she hadn't realized how long she had spent swimming. She was now late for her history class.

She made a frantic rush to her locker to collect her textbooks followed by a mad dash up the stairs to the third floor. In her rush and hazy thoughts, she hadn't anticipated that turning the corner in such a hurry would have her running straight into someone.

Her books went crashing to the floor, papers scattering across the tiled surface and pens from her backpack rolled out as she landed backwards on her backside. The person she had run into – another student was equally just as surprised.

It was then that Juvia realized that in her rush that she had grabbed the wrong books and that the papers that had dispersed everywhere were from her art class.

"Hey – sorry, didn't mean to send you flying like that," spoke the masculine voice of the student she had crashed into. It was only then that Juvia took a moment to see who exactly she had run into and at that moment she did, she felt yet another change of mood.

Undeniable attraction.

The man before her crouched down and began gathering up her drawings was something else, like no other male student she had seen thus far. His jet black hair, his dusky eyes, the half-buttoned shirt that revealed just enough skin to know that he was athletic and probably strong too. There was something else though – something that Juvia just couldn't deny; he had a kindness to him. Presumptuous, she knew, but she could just tell.

' _Is this… love at first sight?!'_

"Are these all your drawings?" he suddenly asked, "They're really good. I like this one of the frog and cat – it's kinda cute." He held up one of Juvia's drawings that she had drawn in her own time – a creature study of somebody's cat trying to catch a fish in the pond filled with frogspawn that sat just at the edge of the school's grounds.

"Juvia… Juvia must know your name!"

He stopped in his gathering to look up at her as she stared wide-eyed at him. She couldn't be sure but the look he was giving her – was there a chance he felt something too?

"Uh, it's Gray."

Juvia felt her heart figuratively inflate as she whispered his name back, testing it on her tongue and finding romantic associations with it; a tempestuous sea on a rainy day perhaps.

So caught up in her imagination, she barely noticed when he stood up. She was expecting him to offer his hand to help up – perhaps to go even further by offering to elope and living happily ever after together.

Instead, he simply held out the papers he had gathered up to her.

' _He is obviously too shy for such grand gestures.'_

"Here you go – sorry again." He said and Juvia slowly moved her hand to take them, carefully watching his every movement, his every gesture whilst trying not to lose herself in the perfection that was the man before her.

' _Juvia… needs… to make him… hers.'_

"I gotta get to class – take care, alright?" He eventually said as he brushed the back of his neck awkwardly when she said nothing to him, too wildly enraptured by his presence alone.

She soon managed but a whisper, "Juvia thinks…" but unfortunately, Gray had already turned and headed off down the corridor.

' _ **Juvia was so happy when she met Gray. Juvia wanted to do anything for him. Juvia did not think that Gajeel would be unhappy with her new love.'**_

* * *

**January** **,** **Two months later**

Juvia peered through the somewhat dusty and cracked window panel of the door to one of the geography classrooms. Posters of various countries and continents hung on the walls – it seemed as though Guiltina was of popular interest that semester.

However, what Juvia was more interested in was the dark-haired man that sat at a table, surrounded by his friends presumably. It wasn't clear to see, but Juvia was able to observe them laughing, rolling dice and after several minutes of watching, the pink-haired guy smashed his fist against the table and consequently, there was an alarming cracking sound, loud enough for Juvia to hear through a closed door, echoing throughout the room.

Their voices inside became more muffled but Juvia could just about make out what they were saying.

The man with the pink-hair and fiery temper was the easiest to hear over them all, "So that's it then?! My character is-"

"Yeah – he's dead, flame brain," spoke the man, 'Gray Fullbuster', that Juvia was most excited to talk to at some point again, even if he didn't know it himself yet.

A skinnier man with longer, black hair that partially covered his face was the next to speak, "Never mind that, what about that crack we just heard? Did you seriously just break the table, Natsu?"

"Erza's gonna kill us when hears about this," Gray commented and much to Juvia's joy through the translucent panel she was peering through, he was also in the process of removing his shirt. Oddly enough, the white-haired man beside him seemed to be doing exactly the same thing, as if they were both in sync!

Juvia wasn't sure why they doing it and her mind drifted to thoughts that this was perhaps some sort of club for actors… or even strippers!

"Erza – how? She graduated already!" Natsu yelled back.

"She has a way of knowing. By the way, we're playing at mine this weekend, yeah?" Gray asked. "Erza's going to be joining us – she's already read up on all the rules."

"Our place," corrected the equally half-naked man beside him. "And don't worry, Ultear is out of the house this weekend."

"Good," Natsu simply replied. "She's always asking me weird questions about Zeref, it's annoying."

"I think she has a thing for him."

"I doubt it, Lyon," Gray responded.

"I can do this weekend," interjected the skinnier man.

"You sure, Alzack? I heard Bisca might be back from Alvarez this week," Lyon slyly remarked. Juvia saw Alzack tense ever so slightly around his shoulders at the mention of this.

"Y-Yeah, I'm s-sure," he spluttered back.

Juvia was content on continuing listening in, waiting for the opportune moment to present itself and her '53rd' thank you gift to Gray for helping her pick up her books and papers from the floor two months ago. It isn't much, she suddenly thought; only a present of six home-baked muffins that she had made just for him – she would have to think of another gift to give him at a later date.

"Yo, ash for brains," Gray suddenly spoke up, "What are you going to do when you graduate this year?"

Natsu shrugged, "Dunno. Something."

"You haven't thought about it? No plans whatsoever?" Lyon asked him curiously.

"Not really. I mean, I'm don't wanna study anymore and even though I do well at boxing and stuff – no one wants to sponsor me because of my 'reckless behavior'." Natsu answered, gesturing with air quotations when the word 'reckless' was said.

"That's rough. Can see why though – two fires in one year?" Gray said with a gloating smirk. Natsu glared at him for a moment but didn't say anything more.

"What about you, Gray? Lyon?" Alzack suddenly asked despite Juvia having already classed him as the shy one of the group. "I'm thinking of joining the police force myself."

"Police huh? Nah, don't think I'd want that," Gray answered. "I'm not sure what I wanna do either so I'm going to work at my mom's place till I figure it out."

"Yeah, sounds like something you would do," Lyon added with what Juvia sensed was a twinge of jealousy, "I'm thinking of going to art school. I've always liked sculpting."

Juvia continued to listen intently – the more she learned about Gray, the better! He would be glad to know she's taken the time to learn so much about him already. She hoped he would be equally as interested in learning about her but if he didn't want to straight away, that would be okay too! She would be happy just to have him nearby.

Juvia was so absorbed into what she was doing that she didn't even notice the short figure approaching her from the side.

"Ahem."

Juvia jumped from where she stood at the door, now very aware that someone had noticed what she was doing – not that there was anything wrong with it! She was just curious as to what Gray was doing that afternoon after classes were over and done with.

To both her surprise and horror, she was now looking down at the short and elderly school principal, Makarov Dreyar.

"Are you interested in joining the D&D club, Miss Lockser? He asked with an air of inquisitiveness to his voice.

A flustered Juvia struggled to formulate an excuse, "Oh, Principal Dreyar! I uh-"

"I'm sure they won't mind you joining them- they're good kids after all."

"Juvia… is not sure…" She wasn't even aware of what the D&D club was supposed to be.

"You're also on the swim team, are you not? I've kept an eye on your progress since you transferred here over a year ago now, you're doing very well and making our school proud!" The principal beamed before he continued, "But I don't often see you interact with too many people. Perhaps the D&D club will change that if you give it a chance."

Juvia found herself shifting awkwardly on the spot, unsure of what to say to the principal. She hadn't considered the option of actually joining the club – instead of choosing to watch Gray host it from afar. Should she be as so bold to just approach him openly like that? She already knew that he was shy, reserved and she was positive that no gift that she had left him so far had pleased him.

"Juvia will think about it." She resolved herself to say and Principal Dreyar seemed satisfied with that, simply nodding with an approving grunt before tottering off down the corridor again.

Juvia resumed to looking through the door's window only to witness her beloved holding Natsu in a headlock over the table before he fell gracefully to the floor as Natsu clearly and unfairly tripped him with his foot.

She wasn't worried. Natsu was obviously no match for her Gray.

"Juvia?"

Juvia found herself jumping yet again as someone caught her yet again.

This time, it was the inquisitive and concerned voice of her first and only friend at the school.

"Gajeel! Juvia was-"

Gajeel grunted and shook his head disapprovingly, "Save it. You're doin' it again ain'tcha?"

"Juvia has made muffins this time, he will surely like it!"

Gajeel, who she had come to know as to have a tough, outer shell to his personality and was never one to ever show weakness, looked away from her and tiredly sighed, "Seriously, you get outta one shitty relationship with a slimy bastard and you're already obsessing over another."

"This is different! Juvia will make sure there will be no love rivals this time!" she insisted as she clenched her fists at the thought of any such woman throwing themselves at the wonderful man behind that door beside herself.

"Look, I jus' wanted to say I'm sorry I haven't been about – I mean I was gonna beat the shit outta Bora for ya but then a shrimp of a girl stopped me-"

"A love rival!?"

"The fuck is a love rival?"

"She can't have my beloved Gray," Juvia seethed as her gaze turned vitriolic.

Gajeel cocked a pierced eyebrow at her as well crossing his arms with displeasure at her ridiculous statement, "Yeah, that ain't happening. Look – I said I'd watch out for you and that's what I'm doin' but I can't stop you from doin' the same damn thing all over again."

"Juvia… Juvia knows what she's doing," was her only response.

' _ **Juvia just wanted to be with Gray. Juvia stopped noticing Gajeel. Juvia stopped being a good friend. It was Juvia's fault of what happened next.'**_

* * *

**March** **,** **later that year**

Juvia was on her way to school with a skip in her step. She wasn't looking forward to the prospect of Gray graduating soon, but she was happy that he finally agreed to have a picnic with her at lunchtime. She didn't know why he changed his mind all of a sudden after her twenty-two attempts previously, she was more concerned about making sure she would do her best to make sure he would enjoy the picnic she had prepared especially for him.

She barely noticed Gajeel sitting slouched on the cold ground, leaning against the fence that bordered the school's perimeter. She probably would have walked right by him if he didn't stand out as much as he did with his ever-growing black hair and accumulating piercings.

"Gajeel?" she inquired, cautiously approaching him, unused to seeing him in this manner, "Are you okay?"

Gajeel lifted his head and Juvia let out a small, shocked gasp when she saw the puffy eyes, a gash against his cheek covered with dried blood and a bruise forming on the left side of his face.

"Do you need a doctor – should Juvia call for help?" Juvia frantically asked whilst suddenly feeling torn between making her picnic 'date' or staying with her friend.

"I'm fine," Gajeel said, "Just had a run-in with Torafuzar. Fuckin' Tartaros think they own the place."

"But you're hurt!"

Gajeel grunted, "Said it's fine. I was watching out for shrimp… not that it matters anymore anyway." He turned his head away from her, clearly uncomfortable with displaying whatever feelings that were on his mind.

"Juvia doesn't understand… but Juvia… Juvia finally has a date with Gray! Juvia is so excited."

"Hmph," Gajeel snorted, "Good for you."

"Juvia has made buns and cake and so many sandwiches and-"

"She's leaving soon." Gajeel dolefully interrupted her, "Dunno what I'm supposed to do."

Juvia however, despite the pain in Gajeel's voice, blithely continued, "-and rice balls and snap peas…"

"I'm probably gonna get expelled too. Expelled before that fuckin' flaming idiot and all the fuckin' fires he's started. Can you believe that?" Gajeel went on to say resentfully with little humor in his words.

"Do you think Gray will like Juvia's buns?"

Gajeel said nothing.

"Maybe Juvia should have made more food? Do you think Juvia has made enough for Gray?"

' _ **Juvia can't remember exactly what happened next. Juvia was so excited and thought Gajeel would be happy for Juvia. Gajeel became angry. Juvia remembers his words.'**_

"I've had it with this fuckin' Gray nonsense, you daft rain woman!" He yelled, rising to his feet, "I'm going through fuckin' hell and all you can do is sit there and go on about that ice asshole!"

"Juvia-"

"We were gonna watch each other's backs, remember that?! Do you? Or is it all about 'Gray' this and 'Gray' that now, huh?"

"Gray is-"

"Just stop. Fuck everything. Just… fuck it!"

' _ **Juvia did not know that Gajeel had so much going on. Juvia should have paid more attention. Gajeel did not talk to Juvia much after that.'**_

* * *

Lucy patiently listened to every word of Juvia's recollection of the events leading up to her and Gajeel's fractured friendship. Juvia had stayed relatively calm throughout, despite the topic. When she spoke of Bora and the gaslighting and the lies he put her through, Juvia tensed a little but came off as indifferent about it in her speech.

It was easy to see why when she came to her telling of how she first encountered Gray. She brightly smiled, her hands clasped together like she was holding something precious and her eyes took on a dewy, dreamy-like expression. Her love for Gray had completely overshadowed whatever feelings she may have once harbored for her ex-boyfriend.

It was only when Juvia came to the decisive falling out that she had with Gajeel, not long before he presumably graduated (although now Lucy wasn't sure if he had been expelled before that could happen), that she displayed a notion of pain that this caused her – and was still causing her.

"Things were different after that," Juvia said sadly with the defeat in her voice evident. "Juvia thinks there is no way to fix it."

Erza sat forward, placing a gentle hand on Juvia's knee, "Hey now, it's not like you to be so pessimistic."

"Gajeel looked out for Juvia but Juvia didn't listen," Juvia replied with remorse etched into her voice, "Juvia failed to look out for Gajeel in return."

"Gajeel wasn't your responsibility, Juvia. You weren't his either." Erza stated.

Juvia turned to Erza with a look of hopelessness, "But Juvia doesn't know what else she can do to make it right anymore!"

Lucy sat forward from beside Juvia, unsure whether to speak or to reach out affectionately as Erza did. She thought about saying the things you were supposed to say like that it would be alright or things will get better in time but what Juvia was describing happened over two years ago. What exactly had happened to Gajeel back then that caused this rift? Because Lucy was willing to bet that Gajeel's response to Juvia was somewhat misplaced – a lingering pain that he still maintained and Juvia was perhaps a reminder of that.

"He was fine with you last week wasn't he? I think you're trying too hard for his forgiveness," Erza said with some clear thought put in behind her words. "But I'll talk to him myself if he's going to be so stubborn."

Juvia didn't respond to that and the room fell into a brief silence.

"I… I think… that Gajeel is being too harsh on you, Juvia," Lucy finally said, having listened and thought on Juvia's recollection. "I don't know what his side of everything is but… I think that if he was okay with you playing D&D in the same group as him, then he shouldn't stop you from being yourself."

Lucy meant what she said wholeheartedly. Personal freedom to be who she wanted to be was something she came to value greatly. She hadn't known Juvia long but the woman seemed generous and friendly when she wasn't feeling threatened – and it seemed as though Gajeel was irked by that more than he should be.

She wished she knew what had gone on in those short months before he had graduated and then maybe she would be able to sympathize with him better. Gajeel didn't seem like the type that would open up, at least not to her anyway. Lucy could only hope that Gray was able to calm him down. Just how did Gajeel come to play D&D anyway?

"Thank you for saying that Lucy," Juvia quietly said although her expression remained unchanged. "Juvia is sorry for ruining D&D for everyone tonight."

Erza scoffed, "You did no such thing! Some things are more important than playing a game. Our friend's well-being for example."

Lucy nodded enthusiastically at hearing that, "Yeah, we're here for you right now, Juvia. D&D can wait!"

A small smile appeared for but a moment on Juvia's soft face before fading, "I hope Gajeel is okay."

"I think a group hug is in order!" Erza suddenly declared, gesturing to Lucy to sit close whilst holding out deceivingly strong arms.

As usual, there was no denying Erza and the trio soon found themselves in a three-way embrace with Erza squeezing a little too tightly for Lucy's liking.

A minute or so passed before it was suggested they return to the table and see what was happening with the guys and their temporarily abandoned game. Juvia was initially hesitant but with some encouragement, she quietly rejoined them. To their surprise, both Gray and Gajeel had returned to the table although both were sitting silently.

Gajeel grunted and offered a meek apology for yelling and disrupting their game although nobody took to blaming him in the slightest. Lucy for one didn't think that neither he nor Juvia was to blame – although she wasn't keen for a repeat of the night's events, that was for certain.

Gray suggesting wrapping up the game early as the mood to play was evidently gone. He did however inform them that both Lucy and Juvia's characters had both gained a level, putting them on equal ground as the remaining player characters. Lucy would normally be excited at the prospect of having her character becoming stronger with more spells, stats and abilities but it just wasn't there that night.

* * *

Erza hadn't said much to Lucy during the drive to Lucy's home after D&D ended early. Lucy wanted to ask questions about what had happened to Gajeel at Magnolia High despite knowing how wrong it was to pry into something she had no right to be prying into.

For the longest time, she had no friends of her own age growing up and Levy had been one of the first near the beginning of her adult life. There was never any real drama between them that had ever happened since becoming friends. The closest they had to an argument was a small disagreement about authorial intent but that was it. There was no supporting each other through turbulent relationships either as there were none to speak of.

Hearing the pain in Juvia's voice as she tried to explain what had happened between her and Gajeel and knowing that it wasn't something that Lucy had read straight out of a novel – that it was real life and Juvia was hurting from it, was something that she felt entirely useless in. It made her heart hitch, it made her want to tell Juvia that she'd kick her ex-boyfriend hard in the ass if she ever saw him. Would that even be right to do? Listening to Juvia made her feel guilty, at a loss at how she could help…

Honestly, she wasn't sure what to do either than well, just be there. That's what everyone says, right? Be there for those you care about? She wanted to be there for Juvia, but was that enough?

She hated the feeling of not knowing. She hated feeling like the privileged child who was out of touch with the rest of society.

Once Lucy was back inside her apartment which seemed strangely cold, she unpacked her bag, carefully putting her own miniature and the tressym one on her desk. She had been disappointed that she hadn't been able to give it to Natsu but given what had happened, she couldn't help but guiltily think that maybe it had been a good thing that Natsu was absent for that session. She guessed he probably wouldn't have enjoyed watching what had happened at the table, let alone trying to imagine how he might have responded to it.

Lucy decided to bring up group chat and send a private message to Juvia, informing her that if she ever wants to talk some more, she would be there for her. Maybe she wouldn't be able to do much other than listen and hope that would be enough. Maybe that's what you were supposed to do. Maybe Juvia didn't need to hear the usual tropes that all the books told… or maybe she did, she really wasn't sure.

' _I'm overthinking this…_ _'_ Lucy said to herself as she found herself returning to the same thoughts over and over again.

Juvia didn't reply straight away. That was to be expected. It was late, Gray was taking her home and she might not have even wanted to say anything more on the past after an emotionally charged evening.

Looking at the group chat and staring at the only message from Natsu there, Lucy knew she wanted to know if he was alright too. She worked on typing out a private message to him as well.

 **Lucy:** _Hi Natsu! Is everything okay? We missed you at D &D today._

She was satisfied that it was friendly enough without being pushy. She put her phone down soon after sending, nervous as to how he would reply but not wanting to admit that to herself. Instead, she decided to look over her notes from the session and try to figure out if any of it was inspirational enough to write into her draft novel.

Try as she might, Lucy already knew that it was way too late in the evening to even try writing. She knew she was too distracted by the thoughts running a mile a minute in her head. She knew that she kept on looking back at her phone, waiting.

After ten minutes without a single reply nor a single word on her notepad, Lucy admitted that she was kidding herself when she thought that she might have been able to distract herself with writing.

' _A bath, that's what I need. A relaxing bath to clear my head.'_

She went about her nightly routine as the bathtub slowly filled, abashedly admitting to herself that she often skipped it on Saturday nights because she was usually too tired. She removed the very sparing amount of make-up on her face – she knew she probably didn't even need to wear any only go to D&D to begin with as she doubted anyone there would judge her for her looks alone. She made sure her hair was tied back as she applied cleansers and moisturizer to her face.

Still no new messages on her phone.

She stripped herself of her clothes and went to check the temperature of her bath. It wasn't quite warm enough for her liking and so she adjusted the tap as such.

Still no new messages on her phone.

She added some scented bubble bath and watched as the globules created mountains of iridescent clouds on the surface of the water.

She checked her phone one last time before resigning that it was probably just too late for anyone to want to respond to her now.

With the bathtub practically calling to her, Lucy decided to ignore her phone and finally try to relax. She stripped down and shuddered as heat rapidly stroked the sole of her foot as she stepped in. The warmth rapidly traversed up her body as she seated herself down, letting out a content breath.

With her head tilted back, she loved the combination of water and its high temperature and she took a moment to just be still as she let all of her anxieties be stripped away from her.

After what felt as if time had stopped for a short while, Lucy's attention was suddenly drawn to her phone vibrating on the counter to the side.

Whilst she wasn't in the habit of sitting whilst being on her phone in the bath, she just had to know if either of her friends had replied to her so she took to hastily leaning over to grab it.

 **Natsu:** _yeh, sory I wasnt there_

Lucy bit her lip lightly as she read the message. He didn't say what had kept him from D&D and whilst she wanted to know, she didn't want to intrude either. Since when had she become this curious anyway? Gajeel's words from their brief talk outside Strauss Games came to mind: _'Do you even know the guy?'_

Lucy thought she did… she had felt like she'd known him for much longer than it really was – a little over two months. But Gajeel was absolutely right when she thought about it, she really didn't know anything about Natsu's life.

She wanted to be a good friend regardless of this fact and she decided to extend her offer of being available to talk to include him as well. In fact, any of her friends could do that although she figured that would be a bit weird to send to everyone out of the blue.

 **Lucy:** _If you ever need to talk, I'm a good listener! We're friends after all!_

Lucy put the phone down, not wanting to sit around and wait impatiently for a response that might not come straight away as her bath water cooled off. She tried to resume in her relaxation, leaning back and gently washing bubbles and silky water over herself.

It wasn't long before the phone buzzed again. Lucy reached over and grabbed it in a flash.

 **Natsu:** _nah, its cool thx Lucy_

To say she was a little disappointed was not something Lucy wanted to openly admit to herself. If he didn't want to open up to her, that was fine, they weren't _that_ close after all. She didn't know if he was denying her outright or if it was just in this instance and Lucy figured it was probably not a good idea to press him as to which one it was.

She was about to put her phone away with what she could only describe as rejection stinging at her although she wasn't sure why that was what she was feeling exactly. It was no big deal if someone didn't want to talk about what was bothering them – if something even was.

Her phone, however, buzzed again.

 **Natsu:** _c u at dnd next week?_

She didn't have to think about her answer in her reply.

 **Lucy:** _Of course! See you then! :)_

Regardless of whether he wanted to say anything to her or not, Lucy was at least happy that D&D would return to normal next week. Natsu would probably enjoy the fact that Gajeel had made a mess of things, she mused. And there was still the tressym miniature to give to him too.

' _Next week will be a lot better.'_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not sure how many of you will like a chapter surrounding Juvia and Gajeel's past but I wanted to cover some of that as well as get some insight to the gang's early D&D days.
> 
> Writing arguments and resolutions was kind of difficult for me. I've had a couple of instances where other players have brought their own issues to the table during D&D and wanted to reflect a little on why that's never a good thing. Not sure how well it came across but hey ho. This chapter in general was a struggle.
> 
> Also, since this fanfic isn't based on a real world country, I haven't really put much emphasis on the school system used so feel free to use your imagination on how that works here as it doesn't really take up much of the main story anyway. Also, it's been a while since I was last in a school so hopefully what I wrote isn't too dated!
> 
> Towards the end, I tried to focus on Lucy's lack of social development regarding friendships growing up and how she has little experience of what being a good friend is other than what she's read in novels. I think Lucy is quite the empathetic character but definitely an overthinker.
> 
> Next chapter: Not gonna reveal much about this other than its name 'The Story of the Red Wyrmling'. It might take a bit longer to write as I feel it's an important chapter to get right.


	15. The Story of the Red Wyrmling

**S** **aturday** **, S** **eptember** **1** **9** **th**

Natsu was slouched back against the sofa in Strauss Games' basement, a PlayStation controller in hand with an apathetic expression as his character fainted yet again trying to do a quest in Monster Hunter. Normally, he'd enjoy fighting all kinds of different monsters and there was something about accepting quests to go hunt stuff down that felt natural to him. Today, he felt as if he were only passing time until D&D started.

It was sort of what he was doing but normally, it would be more fun and get him more pumped for whatever monsters Gray was planning to throw at him next.

But he wasn't feeling it today at all. He'd only paid enough attention the group chat to know that there would be some combat as soon as they got playing again but everyone was being secretive about it – Gray saying something about it being more fun for him to find out himself or something.

He would have challenged him but he didn't really have it in him to deal with Gray being an ass. He had a lot to think about and Gray was the furthest thing from his mind at the moment.

"Hey, Natsu?" Lisanna called as she walked down the basement staircase, "Are you okay? Do you want anything?"

Normally, he'd be all for someone bringing him snacks but he wasn't in the mood to eat a lot.

"Nah, I'm good," he glumly answered as he mindlessly went about playing the video game on the screen in front of him.

"… Did something happen recently?" Lisanna followed up with, concerned and stepping forward with her hands clasped behind her back as she awaited a response.

Natsu grunted somewhat but remained focused on his game.

Lisanna sighed dejectedly before returning back up the stairs, leaving him in peace. Natsu definitely wasn't annoyed at her but he really wasn't in the mood to talk much about anything. He just wanted to zone out, hunt some monsters and try to get into the right headspace for D&D soon.

At least an hour ticked by as he grew frustrated with being unable to play properly as his thoughts kept circling back to the week he'd had before and the memories he'd rather not think about all over _again_. It was both annoying and distracting.

The sound of light footsteps against metal and his keen hearing soon alerted him that someone was about to come to check on him again – most likely Lucy if his senses didn't fail him.

He huffed slightly, not particularly keen for her to see him being so disinterested in anything. He liked being able to make her laugh and smile and see her pout when he pulled dumb pranks on her. He didn't think he was up for that at that right now and the last thing he wanted was for her to be all off with him.

The smell of her flowery perfume quickly confirmed that it was indeed, Lucy, as she descended the stairs and he only briefly looked over at her before turning back to the game. He didn't know if she was gonna ask questions or not, she hadn't said anything to him directly all week in their group chat and he didn't really know what to say to her in turn.

Fuck, he hated feeling this way. It sucked. Really sucked.

When Lucy stepped onto the basement floor, he looked over at her again and he ever so slightly gulped when he saw that she was beaming at him with a smile, looking pleased with herself and holding a bag of pretzels in her hands.

Hell, the way the afternoon light was shining through the basement window and onto her as she stood exactly in the right spot made her look like she was practically glowing. It was weird- good weird. It was just, well, a really _Lucy_ thing – whatever that was.

"Afternoon, Natsu! It's good to have you back!" she greeted him cheerfully.

Natsu looked away, unsure of how to respond to the positive energy she suddenly brought into the room. It was nice but things also sucked at the same time. If she was happy when they played D&D, then it'd probably be easy for him to get into the game. That was at least something good.

"Yeah, it wasn't good to miss out last week," he finally mumbled back before deciding to just go back to trying to hunt monsters on the video game instead.

He hadn't gotten very far before he felt the couch shift beside him as Lucy comfortably sat herself down beside him, oblivious to his want for solitude. He wasn't even sure if that's what he even wanted but he also wasn't about to ask Lucy to leave either.

She had this thing about her, he didn't really know what it was, but it made him feel relaxed when she wasn't doing her usual Lucy fussing. In a way, it was nice that she was there but it still didn't make him want to say much.

He went back to playing the game and Lucy didn't say anything at first. She seemed content to just watch for a bit in silence. Though, after a few minutes, it felt weird as hell.

Luckily for him, she eventually decided to start talking, "So, is everything alright?"

Anticipating that she was eventually going to ask that very question at some point, Natsu replied, "Yeah, everything's cool, Lucy."

He didn't turn to look at her and instead kept his eyes glued to the screen. He didn't want to think about stuff. He didn't want to have to talk about last week or what he'd found out. With any luck, she wouldn't ask about it and he wouldn't have to come up with an excuse as to why he didn't want to explain anything. The thought of being dishonest left him feeling even more unsettled.

A couple of minutes passed and Natsu was losing more and more interest in hunting monsters. His eyes wandered over to the shelf, quickly scanning for something else he could play instead, something easy and mindless.

"Can I join in this game?" Lucy suddenly asked, sounding very sure of herself.

Natsu turned back to her and she was already reaching for one of the extra controllers lying on the coffee table. He wasn't sure if she was forcing herself to play but there was a hint of genuine curiosity in her eyes. Natsu was about to say that he didn't really want to teach her how to play at that very moment but then remembered how quickly Lucy learns things. Teaching her would probably be a good distraction. Unfortunately, this wasn't something that she could just hop into without another PlayStation, TV and her own copy of the game.

"Let's play something else," Natsu simply told her and she gave him a disappointed look. He didn't think she would mind switching to a game that they could actually play locally in co-op mode.

He also didn't think he'd need to explain that and instead he chose to get up and browse his choices on the bookshelf, avoiding any games that included being on a moving vehicle. It wasn't that he couldn't play those kinds of games, he did play some Crash Team Racing not that long ago, but he just didn't need to be reminded of how crappy it was to have motion sickness right now.

His co-op options were limited though – there was 'Dead Nation' – an oldish but fun zombie killing game although he had no clue how Lucy would feel about playing that. There was a puzzle-solving game that she might like but that genre wasn't fast-paced enough for his liking. Eventually, he settled on 'Overcooked 2' despite the vehicle usage on some levels. It had a habit of making him hungry but it would probably be entertaining enough to play for both of them.

Lucy didn't say anything as he popped the disc into the console, sat back down and loaded up the game without a word to her.

"What are we playing?" She soon asked.

"A game where we gotta cook food as fast as possible," he answered plainly, "… that other game we couldn't play together on the same PlayStation."

For some reason, Natsu noticed that Lucy's face brightened went she heard this and that original eagerness she had to play returned to her. Maybe she really liked cooking? Natsu couldn't help but smile just a little at that thought – he'd bet that Lucy's cooking probably tasted amazing. He'd have to get her to give him some of her food one day to find out.

Soon enough, they were picking out their characters and naturally, he swiped the dragon character immediately and then curiously waited for Lucy to pick hers.

"The narwhal?" He questioned at Lucy's strange choice.

"I think they're kind of cute," She merely replied.

Natsu was okay with having to sit through the tutorial level again with Lucy. Soon enough, they were playing through the next level with ease. She cooked, he got the ingredients and dropped off the finished dishes that she put together.

Several levels later, things were getting a lot more hectic and unfortunately for Lucy, Natsu was not communicating as much as he could've been as she started calling out for the different things that she needed to assemble the meals.

They got to a point where they were having to cook burgers on one level and soon, the patties were burning and Natsu wasn't grabbing enough plates, as well as accidentally having their chosen characters kept running into each other.

"Natsu, are you sure you're alright?" She asked as they barely cleared the level together with a decent score.

"Fine," he briskly answered as the next cutscene loaded up on the screen. He loudly groaned as the next level loaded up and was the one that took place on two moving trucks.

After a while of more hectic playing, Natsu figured that Lucy might have been getting fed up with his lack of saying much of anything as it wasn't long before she put the controller down and said something he wasn't expecting to hear.

"Natsu… I'm sorry if I've upset you, I'll go upstairs and see if anyone wants help setting anything up."

He stupidly blinked at her, wondering why the hell she'd thought that she'd upset him. What was currently bothering him had nothing to do with her whatsoever!

Natsu absentmindedly watched as she got up and began to walk away from him towards the stairs and he wasn't entirely sure why, but he felt himself panic just a little. It felt like he'd done something he really wasn't supposed to and normally, he wouldn't have given a damn to what anyone thought about that but this time, it didn't sit well with him at all that Lucy suddenly seemed unhappy.

"Wait, Lucy!" he blurted out, hastily putting down his own controller and waiting for her to turn back to him. When she did, he didn't like the look she was wearing at all. Lucy looked really uneasy… around him.

He'd seen her look unsure about some of the decisions he'd make in D&D for his character or the times when Gajeel would be an ass and she would look at him with worry, but he'd never seen her look that way towards him and it didn't feel right in the slightest.

Fuck, this is why he didn't want her to see him like this in the first place.

He knew he'd have to tell her why he wasn't feeling himself – it wasn't going to be fun but he didn't want her to be well… not Lucy around him.

"I'm not upset, okay?" Natsu started with, leaning back into the couch as he sought a way to say what was going on in his head without going places he really didn't want to go. It was a damn near impossible task but he'll try anyway- "Did I ever tell you anything about when I was a kid?"

Lucy pulled a confused look for a second as he felt her bewildered eyes bore into him, leaving him feeling a bit exposed. "No, I don't think you have," she answered, "but I've heard a little bit from the others last week about you in high school."

"Oh yeah? Bet they had fun talkin' 'bout that." Natsu commented, remembering Gray's mockery of his 'pyromaniac habits'. Okay, he'll admit that some of those fires weren't accidental, Gaebolg's desk for one wasn't, but some honestly were. It was like fire had a habit of following him everywhere sometimes.

"But… you mean when you were even younger?" Lucy asked and he nodded at her affirmatively.

Natsu paused for a minute, unsure where to begin. He soon figured it made sense to start from the earliest thing he could remember. "So uh, I was in foster care… a lot," Natsu said awkwardly, carefully watching Lucy's reaction.

"You were?" Lucy quickly asked, looking a little surprised but not judgmental in the slightest.

She walked back over and sat back down beside him before looking at him in a way that made it both easy and hard to explain what he was going to tell her. She seemed like a good listener but he had no idea if her eventual opinion of what he was doing with his spare time was going to be the same as many others.

' _It's a waste of time and money.'_

' _He's gone and that's that.'_

As much as he was going to hate revisiting those memories again, he found himself leaning towards the camp of actually wanting to tell Lucy as much as he was able to – he had a feeling that it might actually be a good thing.

"I think I was uh, five or six? I don't even remember my birth parents," Natsu then continued to explain as he tried to think back and suppress any negative thoughts that accompanied it. "My big brother, Zeref, had gone to go live with his new parents but I don't think that family wanted me too."

Lucy sat forward with a frown, quickly interjecting into what he was saying, "Aren't siblings supposed to stay together?"

"Yeah, I thought so but I guess not in my case," Natsu answered bitterly. "But anyway, I eventually got adopted by a man… his name is Igneel." He was already starting to feel the emotional pain from just mentioning the name of the only man he would ever call his dad.

Lucy patiently sat still, keenly listening to him as he thought about exactly what he was going to say next.

His earliest memory came to mind.

* * *

" _Where's Zeref?" asked a young Natsu Dragneel as he stood alone in a room, toys scattered around and wondering why he was alone._

* * *

Nope, Natsu didn't want to revisit that. That empty room with worn toys and nobody there as well as the familiar face of his older brother missing. The murmurs of the adults behind a glass wall nearby, probably discussing stuff to do with him but he could barely make out what they were saying, even with his acute hearing. He couldn't even begin to imagine where he would have ended up if it wasn't for what happened next.

* * *

" _Hey there, your name's Natsu isn't it?" Spoke the deep voice of a man, crouched down to share the same eye level with him. He wore a kind smile and had the face of someone who had his own share of pain in life._

" _Yeah, who're you?" Natsu suspiciously asked. He'd been asking for Zeref for days and nobody would tell him. Now he was being introduced to yet another stranger that probably also wouldn't tell him where his big brother had gone._

" _My name's Igneel-"_

" _What's that on your clothes?" Natsu_ _suddenly_ _interrupted, pointing to the_ _fiery_ _motif on the man's_ _black_ _t-shirt._ _It looked like a weird lizard._

" _You like it? It's a dragon. Pretty awesome, huh?" Igneel replied_ _cheerfully. "_ _They can fly and breathe fire!"_

_Natsu's eyes widened at the simple explanation. He suddenly felt the need to have a t-shirt that looked just like his. "I want one too!"_

_The man chuckled lightly at his sudden interest, "I think I'll be able to find one in your size."_

* * *

Natsu smiled, leaning his head against the back of the couch and reminiscing that first memory. Igneel was the first person to show him some real sympathy when he still had no idea where his brother had gone. Life got a whole lot better when he was told that Igneel was gonna be his dad.

The first night in his new home back then was one of the best memories he had of his childhood. His new dad tucked him into bed that evening and read him a story about some mighty dragons that ruled the lands of some fantasy kingdom. As the months passed, he had all kinds of dragon-related stuff in his room.

Natsu looked back over to Lucy, smiling widely, "Igneel was the best dad I could've asked for," he stated honestly. "He liked reading to me and telling me all kinds of stories!"

Lucy smiled back at him and he couldn't help but feel just a little better just telling her these old memories. It's not like he kept it a secret from anyone or nothing but telling her in particular only felt right- natural even.

"I had an awesome room and Igneel cooked awesome barbecue food every summer!" Natsu continued, as the memories flashed back into his mind, one by one in chronological order. He went on to explain what he could about his only father-figure- the dragon fascinations, the fishing trips just out of town (although they were boring at the time) and even fire breathing trick he could do.

Eventually, Natsu moved onto life outside of that, "I started going to school where he knew the teacher that was going teach me."

As he spoke, he looked down to take the end of the scarf that trailed around his neck and down his front with his hand, rubbing his thumb against the softness of it for a second before turning back to Lucy.

"Her name was Anna. I can't remember the rest of her name… she knew how to knit or something 'cause Igneel asked her to make it for me," he went on to explain, as he continued to feel the material between his fingertips. The scarf kept him focused on the only plans he only really had in life. Seeing and wearing it every day kept him on task. Wearing it felt as natural to him as natural as it was for Gray to occasionally strip.

"It's really unusual too," Lucy added but made no attempt to touch it as she eyed it carefully for a moment. "The stitches and pattern is nothing I've ever seen before."

He didn't really consider it to be 'unusual', but Lucy liked fashion so maybe she knew about those kinds of things.

Natsu was actually a little glad that she didn't try to touch it as he was fairly possessive over it. Too many before her had tried to grab it without asking or steal it to annoy him. One jackass in high school had wanted to burn it to make some kinda point in one way or another. That same jackass got his ass kicked.

Still, this was Lucy and she would definitely be careful with it – he could tell.

Maybe if she asked, he'd let her. …Maybe.

"Igneel really made an impression on me when it comes to dragons…" Natsu told her bluntly with no embarrassment or shame. He didn't really see why some people thought it was weird that he really liked anything to do with dragons. Gray really liked ice. Juvia really liked Gray (she was nuts for sure). Gajeel really liked metal. Erza liked strawberry cake. The list went on and on.

' _Lucy likes a whole lot of things.'_

Unfortunately, Natsu was soon confronting the memories he didn't like to think about in the slightest. Hell, he had spent enough time replaying them with what he could remember when he was just a kid to figure out any clues as to what had happened.

He took a deep breath and looked away from Lucy's patient gaze, "One day, Igneel took me to Anna's house and dropped me off with her and told me he'd be back soon."

He didn't realize how tense he suddenly sounded.

Natsu gripped the end of his scarf tightly as he frowned, twisting the scarf's fringe between his fingers, "But he never did."

Yeah, he was angry about that. Why did Igneel tell him that he'd be back when instead, he was abandoned at his teacher's place and never returned. Why didn't Igneel come back as he promised and he was left to live the next decade going from foster home to foster home?

"I couldn't stay with my teacher forever," Natsu said, doing his best to not get riled up from remembering everything. "I had to go to a new family… and then another… and then another."

He hadn't realized that he was to the point of digging holes into his scarf with his fingers. Heck, if he thought about it any more, there might even be tears involved and that would be embarrassing as hell.

Thankfully, Lucy's sudden touch against his arm broke him from the mix of rage and sadness that were steadily rising within him. He turned back to look at her, those large eyes of hers watching him with concern and maybe even pity.

He didn't want to be pitied.

"Hey- if you don't want to talk about it, you don't have to." She gently reassured him.

He wasn't sure if he did want to keep telling her all about that portion of his life. It sucked. A lot of words about him were thrown around a lot back then between all the adults that had to 'deal' with him in the aftermath, 'abandonment issues', 'acting out', 'attention-seeking', 'anger problems'. Any label beginning with 'a' it seemed.

Natsu figured he'd just skip that bit. Lucy didn't need to hear that. He didn't need to relive it.

"Long story short, I told you about the principal once, yeah? At my old high school?" Natsu asked, relieved to have swiftly moved past that bit of his childhood with Lucy asking much at all. She dropped her hand and sat back.

"Yes – he was supposed to be really old or something…" she replied, holding her index finger to her lips as remembered the conversation.

"Yeah, he is," Natsu confirmed for her, "Well, he became my legal guardian when I was like, fifteen or something. I didn't really live with him, I mostly stayed at Gray's or Erza's place."

Neither was ideal. Gray could be bastard sometimes and Erza made him follow her strict regimes. Gramps had pretty much agreed to be his 'caretaker' until he hit eighteen. There was always the danger that he could be expelled and maybe the old principal had enough of dealing with him having a new foster family every year or so. Natsu considered himself lucky that he was able to start working quickly and get his own place when he graduated.

Natsu decided to back to the original point of why he was telling Lucy any of this in the first place.

"I didn't give up on Igneel though. I didn't want to believe he'd just leave me like that," he continued, hurrying this trip down memory lane along so he could get to the point of why he hadn't been one hundred percent that week. "I collected newspaper cuttings, looked up info online and all that about anything on him."

"Did you find anything?" Lucy suddenly asked, as if she was hoping there would be a positive outcome of some kind. She was about to be disappointed if that was the case. This wasn't really like those books she read.

"No, nothing important." Natsu dishearteningly replied.

"Oh."

Natsu shrugged, "I reconnected with Zeref again though when I was in high school. He was really happy to see me at least."

"But you weren't?"

"Well, last I saw him, we were still kids. I didn't really recognize him when we met again."

Lucy looked at him with a confused expression, sitting back as she pulled weird faces – like thinking was suddenly really tough for her or something.

"I figured you'd be happy after missing him so much," she stated, "…do you see much of him now?"

"Not really – used to for D&D for a while but he's gotta girlfriend now."

How Zeref could give up D&D to be with a girl was a still mystery to him. You could fight super strong monsters with your friends and that sounded way more fun than 'dating'. Dressing up and going out to some fancy-schmancy place to eat overpriced tiny portions of food and just talking? Yeah, that's lame. And if seeing Erza drunk was anything to go by – girls are downright annoying and scary when alcohol gets involved.

"So… did Zeref, uh, say something?" Lucy awkwardly asked, bringing his attention back to what they were originally supposed to be talking about.

"Huh, what?" He asked, unsure as to what she meant. "No… why do you ask?"

"I thought because you mentioned him that… he might be why you're… you're not yourself." She carefully and sheepishly explained. Natsu couldn't help but look at her strangely.

' _Seriously, how did she come to these weird conclusions sometimes?'_

"Nope, that's not it," Natsu plainly told her. "So, back when I graduated school, I still wanted to find Igneel. When I started working, I paid someone to start looking for me."

He wanted to do it himself but he hadn't had any luck on his own. He'd also thought about leaving town to go look – maybe Igneel ended up in Hargeon or Crocus? Getting motion sickness on basically everything quickly put an end to those plans.

So he had to find someone else that could help.

Natsu had to admit, the guy, 'Mest Gryder' was kind of suspicious-looking when he first entered the office of the 'private investigator'. He didn't have all the jewels in the world to spare – this was the best he could afford on his salary. After nearly three years of paying the guy for whatever information he could – nothing concrete had come of it other than some of Igneel's past.

"I found out that Igneel was separated – he had a wife and son but they weren't in his life anymore. I'm guessing she moved away or somethin' as I don't think he'd given up on his son like that." Natsu muttered, hoping to believe his own words. He had his own doubts about what he had just said. Maybe Igneel gave up on his first son and that's why he was adopted instead? … Maybe Igneel gave up on him too.

Natsu turned his head away, grimacing as if he were physically in pain. He hated those thoughts. He hated to even think that Igneel would ever do that.

"Last week I gotta call from the guy – a body that might have matched Igneel's was found," Natsu continued to explain with rising difficulty, clenching his fist tightly until he could feel his fingernails dig into his skin.

Lucy let out a small gasp but didn't intrude on what he was saying. For a moment, he spotted her hand from the corner of his eye, reaching out towards him like she wanted to touch his arm or something like before. She quickly retracted it and looked away shyly before doing so. She already did it once, what was the problem now?

"I went to the coroner's office, paid the guy to look the other way so I could get a good look at the face," Natsu went onto say quickly, not wanting to linger on all the thoughts that were running through his head at the time. With bated breath, he stated the simple fact, "It wasn't him."

If it had been Igneel, he wasn't even sure what he would have done. Heck, would he even recognize him after so much time has passed? He was kinda glad the body wasn't his dad's – it gave him hope that Igneel was still out there somewhere.

But all that thinking and the emotions that had been building up inside of him were driving him crazy. Natsu wasn't entirely sure what to do with himself after that. He felt like he'd failed somehow.

He… he needed a bit of hope or something.

"Lucy… do you think I'll ever get to know what happened to him?" Natsu eventually asked, turning to her and hoping that she could give him some kind of answer that would help.

She stared back at him for a moment and Natsu couldn't even begin to guess what she was thinking. Lucy bit her lips slightly, her big brown eyes breaking away from him to stare at the coffee table, her hair falling forwards to hide her face for a moment before she eventually returned to look back at him, clearly nervous.

It was probably asking too much of her to give him some assurance of Igneel's fate – everybody else who knew always said the same thing: that he's gotta move on or that Igneel wasn't coming back. Natsu didn't really want to give up hope of that, even if his time with adoptive father was maybe five short years and anything could have happened to him by now.

Natsu was about to tell Lucy not to worry about it, his lips parting as barely a sound escaped before she spoke up.

"I don't know, Natsu," she simply said quietly and honestly to him. She sounded as if she were disappointed with herself for even saying that. Natsu closed his mouth and found himself looking to the floor, unsure of what to say her and even more unsure of what he had expected Lucy to say to his question.

"But Igneel sounds like a really great dad," Lucy then said, causing him to look back to her and the meek smile she offered him.

Then it dawned on him.

' _She didn't say_ _that_ _like_ _Igneel_ _was gone.'_

Natsu stared at her, not really realizing how long he was doing it for until she began to chuckle nervously which seemed to snap him out of whatever the heck he was doing. His newest friend had just reignited a little bit of hope within him that Igneel might still be out there with a single sentence and she probably didn't even know it.

' _Lucy might just be the bestest friend I've ever had.'_

… He'd find Igneel someday. He wasn't gonna give up on the man who taught him so much in so little time. He wasn't the best at remembering stuff but those memories were precious. Maybe Lucy might even come up with a smart idea for him to try.

He began to genuinely grin happily for the first time all day, not really thinking about it when he grabbed Lucy's wrist, making her jump slightly before getting up from the couch and pulling her up with him so that they were both standing.

"Natsu, what are you-" she yelped, startled but he could tell she wasn't bothered by what he was doing at all. Lucy always had a way of fussing and taking ages with getting on with things, this was just an easier way of dealing with that.

"Let's go play D&D!" Natsu declared with a fresh bout of enthusiasm, tugging her towards the stairs. A quick glimpse of her face told him that she looked confused as all hell but she was probably thinking too much again.

He didn't get very far with the confused blonde before he felt some hesitation from her.

"Natsu, wait," she said, pulling her arm away and Natsu instinctively curled his fingers, not particularly liking the sudden disappearance of her wrist from his grasp. Curious as to why, he didn't bother to ask what was up or continue to try and make her go upstairs so they could continue their adventure.

He eyed her carefully as she tottered back to the couch where her bag was, digging through its contents for a few moments before daintily walking back like she was nervous about something. Both her hands seemed to be holding something behind her back but he couldn't fathom what the heck she was doing at all.

"Uh, Lucy?" He finally asked as she almost seemed to be shaking and refusing to look at him as she stood a few feet away.

"I… um…" She stammered softly, "I wanted to give you something. I was going to give it you last week and um… don't be mad at me, okay? I tried really hard at it and they sent the wrong color and-"

Natsu cocked an eyebrow towards her, even more confused than ever as to what she was going on about. She annoyingly didn't even wanna look at him as she was doing well, _whatever_ she was doing, like she was super embarrassed about something.

Thankfully, she slowly began to move her right arm, and before long her hand was extended before him, her palm flat and his dark green eyes snapped to what it was that she was holding up towards him.

His eyes widened when he realized exactly what it was. A miniature- a painted miniature of maybe the best thing he'd ever seen – a winged cat – a tressym.

"Lucy… did you-" He began to ask, not quite believing she had gone to the trouble of painting it herself. He suddenly understood what she meant about going on about the wrong color but the longer that he stared at it, the more he came to really like it. It weirdly suited the cat a lot.

Lucy continued to awkwardly explain herself, "I painted it… I wanted to say thank you for the miniature you gave me and you were really happy about getting that tressym in the game so-"

Natsu just had to cut off her rambling, she was resorting to typical Lucy worrying again and she needed to know exactly what he thought of it already.

"It's amazing!" He blurted out, stepping forwards and leaning down to, in an unorthodox move for him, reach out and very gently brush his fingertips along the miniature's wings. Miniatures could be broken easily if you weren't careful with him and Lucy had obviously taken great care with this one.

"Do you really think so?" Lucy cautiously asked as he looked up at her, catching the way her eyes studied him as he admired the miniature in her palm.

"Yeah! You did a really good job and now we can be a proper team on the board!" He answered her mirthfully.

Lucy appeared to echo his own words to him but he didn't think much of it. She was soon smiling at him as he pulled back from her and straightened himself up.

Natsu didn't know what else to say to her. He felt happy- really happy. He felt fresh renewal for finding Igneel and Lucy had gone out of her way to get him something which he wasn't expecting in the slightest. In that precise moment, everything felt right with the world again and he knew he ought to show her his appreciation.

Then, that answer became obvious to him.

"Oh, I know!" He declared loudly, banging a fist lightly into his open palm.

In one swift move, he stepped forwards and grabbed Lucy by the shoulders, causing her to immediately tense up at the sudden contact. It didn't stop him from pulling her forwards so he could attempt to wrap his arms around her for a second. Immediately, he could smell her perfume wish he honestly wished she'd wear less of but he also briefly felt her softness and warmth too. It was nice.

Was that how he'd describe it? He wasn't sure. Nice didn't seem like the right word for how it felt.

But doing this made sense, right? When he gave her that miniature of her own character some weeks ago, she tried to give him that weird hug at the table so this would be what she wanted for sure.

"Natsu!" Lucy shrieked, pulling away sharply before he could even pull off giving her the 'weirdo hug' as he quickly coined it. He looked her over, confused as to why she jumped away so quickly from him. What was even weirder was how she was looking kinda pink in the cheeks.

"What?" He bluntly asked.

She didn't answer for a second before her eyes fixated over to her hand, "I'm uh, still holding the miniature," she quietly said. "I don't want it to get broken."

Oh yeah, she was still holding it!

He guessed that made sense. She always seemed to be aware of things like that. He'd only broken a few miniatures in his lifetime despite how careful he tried to be. They had all Gray's so that was mostly okay.

"Good point," he replied, gently taking the small miniature and grabbing her other wrist with his other hand. "Let's go play already!"

This time she didn't pull away from him and Natsu was looking forward to adventuring with his complete team on the board. Because that's what they were, a team. The best team.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In this chapter, I was really happy to get around to Lucy finding out more about Natsu as it means I can push their bond a bit more in the upcoming chapters. I figure if there's one person that Natsu thinks about just as much as Lucy, it's gotta be Igneel. I didn't want to write another backstory chapter similar to Juvia's for this – I wanted to capture Natsu and Lucy's reactions to each other.
> 
> I've actually been very slowly knitting a white scarf with a dragon scale pattern – there's a picture of it on my tumblr blog thingy if anyone wants a preview.
> 
> Additionally, I had to look up some foster/adopted children information and now Google thinks I'm planning to adopt. Thanks Google.
> 
> Also, as I flesh out more of the story and add more details for each chapter in advance – the new and updated total amount of planned chapters for this fic is around the 40+ mark. 
> 
> Next chapter: Natsu finds out what's happened to his character in D&D, Gray makes a new rule and Lucy catches up with Levy!
> 
> D&D Terms:  
> Wyrmling: A baby dragon


	16. The Demon and the Librarian

**Saturday** **, S** **eptember** **19** **th**

"I'm making a new ruling as Dungeon Master," Gray announced to everyone once they were all seated at the table and prepared to play with their character sheets at the ready.

Erza attentively sat forward with her pencil and notepad in hand, ready to jot down whatever Gray was about to say. Gajeel didn't seem overly fussed and Juvia looked on at her beloved with dreamy eyes and wholly unprepared to take any notes whatsoever.

"There are six of us and I don't really want to roleplay as a cat should anyone have a way to 'talk' to Natsu's newest pet," Gray went on to explain openly. "So if someone wants to talk to it, I'm going to roll a D6 to decide whose going to roleplay as the cat, okay?"

"I don't want to roleplay as a damn cat," Gajeel quickly objected.

"If the dungeon master states it, those are the rules we must follow!" Erza barked back before Gray could reply.

Lucy personally didn't have an issue with that – it sounded fun and a little bit different to do. There was also the fact that she had her character take the 'Speak with Animals' spell recently so she was looking forward to what 'Happy' might have to say to her.

"As long as everyone gets Happy's personality right, I'm okay with it," Natsu said. "He likes fish."

Lucy noticed that Gajeel and Juvia still hadn't spoken to each other since sitting down. Lucy mused that perhaps they were giving each other space or hopefully, already spoken with each other already. She herself was a little distracted when she arrived at the table with Natsu tugging on her wrist in one of his random bouts of excitement.

The day was so far going incredibly different from what she had perceived would happen. From trying to understand Natsu's incredibly 'off' behavior to listening to some of his revelations about his life, everything was quite a lot to digest.

She would have never have guessed that he had been in foster care. He seemed too warm, too friendly, too well… carefree to carry such a sad past. In a way it made sense – he probably felt completely abandoned and so he developed a personality that would attract others to him so that he wouldn't be left alone like that again. Although it wasn't as if she had a degree in psychology or anything, perhaps that's why having friends were so important to him.

Natsu's description of his father made her feel jealous to be blunt about it. His dad sounded like someone who really cared about his child. Comparatively, her dad… well, once upon a time he wasn't the way he was now. He was as intransigent as they came.

Then almost as if a switch had been flipped, Natsu's mood suddenly turned around completely when he asked her if she thought whether he would ever find out what happened to Igneel. She didn't want to give him false hope and so she answered honestly despite wanting to give him more than that but for some reason or another, it made him a lot happier regardless.

Giving him the tressym miniature felt like the right thing to do after that – she hoped at the very least that it might make him feel more valued after talking about his experiences growing up and how painful that must have been.

She was not expecting him to grab her and attempt to pull her into some kind of bear hug.

He didn't even seem like the type that would even hug people. Naturally, she found the sudden contact shocking and her initial reaction was to reject it – even more so once she felt the warmth from his strong, defined arms and his firm chest press very lightly against hers, causing her heart to race and her cheeks to flush.

She thought she didn't mind hugging. Cana would hug her all the time. Levy used to wrap her arm around her shoulders to comfort her during stressing times – such as whenever her father would find a way to control her in some form or another. Faint memories of her mother holding her were also there too but so distant at the same time.

Hugs could be nice and soothing.

So frustratingly, Lucy had to admit she didn't understand why she had reacted the way she did at Natsu's perfectly innocent gesture.

The tressym miniature made an excellent excuse as to why she rejected his sudden need to hug her.

Just thinking about the 'incident' was making her feel the shyness creep back up again, especially when she glanced over at a now happy Natsu who was looking fairly excited to be playing D&D again.

She hastily looked away, instead choosing to stare down at her character sheet and dice on the table.

' _No use dwelling on it, time to focus on playing D &D.'_

Gray was soon recounting the events of the previous session, making sure to include all the little details of how he had Salamander behave in Natsu's absence. Needless to say, Natsu rejected each and every one of these claims.

"We're gonna start where we left off last – Metalicana and Salamander are both unconscious on the tavern floor and Titania has rallied the rest of the party to fight the 'evil' that's been released,' Gray recapped. Everyone's miniatures were placed in the exact same position on the table as the week before with the exception of Happy, who had been newly placed beside Salamander.

"I wanna roll my saving throw again – it's not fair that you did my roll for me," Natsu quickly told Gray, already rolling his dice in his hands.

"Too late, you weren't here. I'm not retconning it," Gray sternly answered him.

Lucy thought that, after hearing Natsu's reasons for his absence which were completely understandable, Gray should probably relent. Judging from how the two often talked to one another – it seemed unlikely that it would happen anytime soon.

"Fine, I wanna play as Happy then!" Natsu then said, challenging Gray with a fierce glare instead.

Gray kept up his strong, unwavering stare in turn, "No, you can roleplay as it if you want but you're not gonna have two characters."

"Happy's gonna keep Luna company while I'm out," Natsu declared to him as if Gray had no say in the matter despite the fact that Gray was still the dungeon master.

"Your tressym isn't a familiar, it's gonna do whatever the hell it wants," Gray responded in an aggravated tone.

"You wanna go, ice princess!?"

It was at this point that Erza, as expected by everyone except the two men arguing, stepped in.

"Enough!" She bellowed, "Natsu – Gray's the dungeon master and what he says goes."

Lucy gulped at Erza's raw intimidation skills that made Natsu pipe down grumpily but immediately. That's twice so far that she's warned the two Draconic men in the party for challenging Gray and they hadn't even started playing yet.

"Juvia can't wait to team up with you both!" Juvia soon said after the silence that followed, looking to both Erza and Lucy in earnest.

"Yeah, it's going to be interesting!" Lucy replied to her enthusiastically. Although Juvia hadn't initially replied to her message last Saturday, Juvia had made casual conversation over the days that followed and Lucy was beginning to feel more positive about their _hopefully_ blossoming friendship.

Natsu and Gajeel sat back, with the former not looking pleased about the prospect of having nothing to do but watch the remaining party members fight something without him. Gajeel looked unbothered about it all, choosing instead to take a smoke break not long after Gray started asking the girls what they were going to do about finding whatever it was that had escaped from the flute.

Erza, to nobody's surprise, was quick to take control, speaking up loudly over everyone else.

"I suggest we stick together and track it down," She suggested, "Do either of you know any magic that could help us in this situation?"

Lucy looked over her spell list but she didn't expect her druid to be much of an expert when it came to mysterious and possible demonic entities that live in musical instruments.

"I took the 'Speak with Animals' spell when I leveled up to talk to Happy…" Lucy explained guiltily, not seeing how talking to the cat would help them.

Natsu who had been grumpily slummed in his chair, perked up immediately, "You did? That's awesome, Lucy!"

"Thanks but I don't see how it will be much help now…" Lucy told him.

"Actually," Erza interjected, "Happy could be very beneficial to us if you convince… him?" Erza looked to Natsu to confirm his pet's gender. Natsu nodded, suddenly now very interested that his tressym would be getting involved in the girl's plans.

"What can a flying cat do?" Gajeel asked curiously, "as it looks like a wimp if you ask me."

The muscly biker went to poke at the tressym miniature on the table but his hand was quickly whacked away by Natsu's and Lucy could have sworn that the two of them then 'growled' ever so slightly at each other.

"Tressyms have great perception skills and can detect invisible creatures – if it is indeed, invisible," Erza explained confidently to them all.

Gray, however, rose an eyebrow at her and frowned lightly, "Erza, you're metagaming again."

"Oh, right, sorry. I'll roll for it," Erza said apologetically, taking her dice into her hand.

"No, it's fine," Gray replied, "Luna can go ahead and speak to it if she wants to."

"Juvia is excited to see who gets to be Happy first!" the blue-haired woman from Gray's side said exuberantly and Lucy couldn't help but observe that she had also moved her chair slightly closer to Gray's too since they had sat down.

"Okay, I'll speak to Happy then," Lucy confirmed for them all. "I cast 'Speak with Animals'."

Gray ominously rolled his dice behind his screen to determine who would be taking on Happy's speaking role. She wouldn't have been surprised if Gray somehow never got to roleplay it himself as he could always announce anyone he felt like to do it and they would be none-the-wiser with his secretive dice rolls.

"Well, Natsu, you got your wish – you get to be Happy for a bit," Gray said flippantly before rolling yet another secretive dice, "… and Happy is in the mood to assist you guys today."

Natsu let out a loud cheer which caused Mirajane to 'shush' him from the other side of the room. He then turned to Lucy, more than ready to speak for Happy.

Lucy cleared her throat, "Luna goes up to Happy and she says… 'Hey there little guy, do you think you could come and help us?'"

"Aye!" Natsu blurted out beside her loudly in a comical voice.

"Great! Let's go and tell me if you see or smell anything, okay?"

"Aye Sir!"

Gajeel snorted, "The cat sounds dumb."

"Shut the hell up," Natsu retorted. "You're just jealous 'cause you don't have one."

Gajeel almost looked caught out by Natsu saying that, recoiling back a little and frowning, "That ain't true…" he grumbled.

"Anyway!" Gray loudly spoke over the group, "What do you all do next?"

"With Happy helping us, finding the creature should be easier," Erza stated, quick to resume control of the situation, "So let's start by checking the nearby area."

As Luna, Titania and Rain Woman canvased the streets and alleys of the Dwarven settlement, Happy attentively kept close by, both in Gray's storytelling and with Natsu's consistent placement of Happy on the grid paper. Despite both Gajeel and Natsu's pleas to roll in order to have a chance that their characters would 'wake up' from whatever had caused them to fall unconscious, Gray was instant that they couldn't just yet. Natsu was quick to say that Gray was 'railroading' them but Lucy was clueless as to what he meant.

Eventually, Gray announced that Happy had passively spotted the ghastly creature lurking in the shadows near the town square.

"It's here, Luna!" Natsu chirped in Happy's voice.

Gray then went on to describe the scene, "You can see an outline of the creature, trying to hide in the shadows near the wall of someone's home."

"Luna will point out the monster to the party," Lucy said as Gray leaned over his screen to place a new miniature on the board – a dark, demonic-looking creature that matched his prior description of it in their previous session, wings, claws and all.

"Juvia isn't sure what to do…" Juvia said, looking to Erza for guidance.

Erza turned to Gray, "Titania has 'Darkvision', can she see the creature? Does she know what it is?"

"Roll for it."

Erza rolled her red dice, scoring a respectable 14.

"Alright, yeah – Titania recognizes that it's a demon. They are known for destruction and causing trouble – basically, it's Natsu," Gray said.

"The hell you say, ice princess?!" Natsu growled to which Gray merely grinned at him.

"Very well, then we attack!" Erza yelled out with vigor, ignoring Natsu.

"You're all gonna attack?" Gray asked them.

"Yes my darling Gray, Juvia shall fight!" Juvia said as she gazed at him.

"I'm ready to fight too!" Lucy declared. "But Happy, you should get to safety."

Natsu nodded, moving the cat away without Gray's say so. It didn't look as though the dungeon master was about to object to him doing that anyway.

"Alright, roll initiative," Gray said, already rolling his dice for the demon.

Gajeel, clearly in no mood to sit and watch the impending combat stood up from his seat, "Goin' for another smoke," he said before leaving.

The girls at the table went about rolling their dice with the results meaning that Erza would take her turn first, followed by Lucy and then finally Juvia.

Erza swiftly moved her character to stand in front of the monster, "Titania is going to use her samurai ability, 'fighting spirit' to use her bonus action to give herself an advantage on her weapon attacks rolls as well as some temporary hit points."

By now, Lucy was familiar enough with the game to understand what Erza was doing and felt glad that Titania was present this time. Erza certainly seemed to enjoy reiterating the rules of the game but when it came to combat, Erza's actions seemed well thought out.

"Then Titania will strike at the demon with her katana!" Erza declared vehemently, making Lucy feel a little inspired by Erza's determination.

Erza rolled her dice twice, taking her higher roll (although both her rolls were good – how was it that Erza always rolled so consistently well?) and then adding her modifiers.

"That's 13 damage," Erza stated plainly and Gray jotted something down from behind his screen.

After a few seconds, he spoke, "Titania slashes at the demon and although she hits, she gets the impression that her katana felt as though it were cutting through smoke."

Lucy recalled to when they first encountered the monster, that it had escaped the drinking hall by ghosting through the wall. From that, she could safely assume that the creature wasn't entirely solid – but how could they fight something with a smoke-like form?

"It's your turn, Lucy," Gray said to which she nodded.

"Luna takes on her starry form of the archer and uses her bonus action to shoot a luminous arrow at the demon," Lucy stated confidently, knowing that this tactic had worked in the past for her. She wanted to save her lucky rolls for the time being, wanting to discover more about her foe first.

Unfortunately, her low roll of 9 was not enough to actually hit her target. Lucy didn't feel as if she was letting her team down this time – she had plenty more tricks up her sleeve and she still had to figure out the monster's weakness.

"Juvia's turn!" Juvia declared quickly, more than keen to get engaged in the battle. "Juvia wishes to cast 'Blur' so that she is harder to see."

"Alright," Gray commented as he rolled his dice for whatever the demon was about to do. "The demon says nothing but Titania, you swear you can hear cackling in your mind… it then claws viciously at you for…"

Gray's dice rolled again as Erza sat passively, waiting to hear the result and ready to change her character's current hit points with the flick of her pencil.

"12 psychic damage."

Erza turned to him, "Even with my armor?"

"Yeah," Gray confirmed. "And now it's your turn again."

"I will make another attack with advantage," Erza repeated. Once again, she rolled twice and succeeded one of her dice rolls and choosing to make another strike against her target.

"11 damage," Erza stated and once again, Gray made a note.

"Once again, it feels as if you aren't slicing through at all," Gray repeated, leaving Erza contemplative about what to do.

Lucy was quick to announce what she was going to do next, having already decided on trying the same attack again, "I cast Guiding Bolt which I follow up with another luminous arrow attack."

She caught Natsu giving her a thumbs up, instantly making her feel more confident about her choice.

She rolled well this time, scoring a 17 which she followed up her damage, a fairly average amount of 14 points to which she then able to add 6 more damage once she rolled (with advantage) for her arrow attack.

"Get 'em, Lucy!" Natsu cheered before turning to Gray, "Can my character wake up already?"

"No, he can't," Gray replied sourly.

"This is such bullshit!" was Natsu's reaction.

Ignoring Natsu, Gray locked eyes with Lucy, "Luna's radiant magic causes the demon to shriek out in pain and she suddenly hears a dark voice in her head, 'You'll pay for that!'"

Lucy nervously gulped, not liking the sound of that in the slightest.

"C'mon Gray, you gotta let me join in!" Natsu once again insisted, looking even more peeved this time.

"Natsu, stop interrupting," Erza said before turning to Juvia. "It's your turn."

"Y-Yes, Juvia must do something!" the sea sorcerer exclaimed, looking to her character sheet before deciding on how to act. "Juvia will… cast acid splash. Juvia will also attach a curse to the cantrip if the demon fails to avoid it!"

"Hmm, okay…" Gray muttered, rolling his dice behind his screen once again. "Okay, roll damage, Juvia." He briefly smiled at her, causing Juvia to look exceedingly pleased with herself as she eagerly rolled her dice, scoring a 5.

"What curse are you attaching?" Gray asked her.

"Cold damage my love!" Juvia declared proudly to him, causing Gray to grin just a tiny bit before returning his serious expression.

"Alright, whilst your spell hits, your curse was ineffective against the demon."

Juvia's smile immediately dropped as she lightly echoed his words on her lips.

Lucy felt very uneasy as Juvia suddenly looked her way.

"But Lucy did so well… Is she trying to impress Gray?!" Juvia suddenly said out loud.

"No, Lucy does not," Lucy simply said, sounding harsher than she would have liked it to be.

As if Juvia suddenly realized what she had just said, she sat back sheepishly, keeping her eyes down and focused on the sheet before her, muttering a small apology. Lucy decided she would message afterwards to let her know it was okay.

Gray, ignoring the comments between them, spoke up as he announced his creature's next action, "The demon quickly takes an incorporeal form, dashing to the side and disappears into the shadows of the nearby buildings." He then removed the demon miniature from the board entirely.

"Quickly, we have to find it again!" Erza yelled. "Where's Happy?"

"Right here!" Natsu called out, moving his tressym back into position on the board.

"Good, I would like to do a perception check to find the demon!" Erza said, turning to Gray and already rolling her dice before he could say anything. It was, however, only an 8.

Lucy attempted to fire an arrow in the rough direction that the monster had gone but Gray announced that it was a miss despite her roll of a 14. As a bonus action, she asked Happy to look for the demon.

Juvia also tried a perception check as did Happy but neither of them had any success.

"Can my character join in now?" Natsu whined sarcastically, more to mock Gray than actually thinking that he would be allowed. As usual, Gray's answer was the same and Natsu repeated the 'railroading' comment once again.

"Luna…" Gray said in an ominous tone, turning to Lucy and she felt frozen in place for a second, "You feel a presence near you but before you realize what's happening, the demon appears behind you and strikes you with its claws."

Natsu shot Gray a menacing glare from his seat but Gray went about rolling his dice regardless.

"You take… 18 points of damage."

Lucy's eyes widened, that was the majority of her health!

"C'mon! Do something, Erza!" Natsu yelled out at the redhead across the table.

"I'm trying to but the demon is obviously resistant to my weapons," she replied. "I'm going to go up to the creature and demand it leave Luna alone."

"You're going to try… and intimidate it?" Gray asked with a cocked eyebrow at Erza's unconventional move.

"Yes."

"Uh, alright."

Erza rolled but it wasn't a decent result.

"The demon laughs at you, Titania," Gray said with some hesitance.

Lucy was quick to use her turn to heal herself for 10 hit points but another attack like the one she recieved would be dangerous for her character.

"Juvia will try and cast 'Witch Bolt' on it!" Unfortunately, her roll was also unsuccessful.

Gray once again described the demon returning to hide in the shadows. It was at that point where everything suddenly clicked for Lucy, the strategist within in coming out to assist her. She quickly was able to deduce that the demon uses shadows to its advantage and it was targeting her because her spells did radiant damage – light magic.

Erza tried another round of trying to spot the demon with no success and Lucy could only assume that all of them were having a sudden and conjoined streak of bad luck.

Lucy, however, decided her theory needed testing and she had just the cantrip for it which she had acquired when she leveled up the week before, thinking it might come in handy for assisting Natsu's character at some point.

"I cast 'Produce Flame' and I also move in the direction that the demon went!" Lucy declared, causing both Gray to sit forward and Natsu to stare at her in awe.

"You have a fire spell?" Natsu asked incredulously.

"Yeah, I do," Lucy tauntingly answered him with a smirk. She had hoped to irk him in some way or another for once but she quickly found that she had achieved the opposite effect as Natsu was looking at her, evidently filled with pride instead.

Gray made another stealthy roll before looking back up, "The light produced from the fire in Luna's hand illuminates the area, revealing the demon."

"Excellent work, Lucy! Juvia, you're up!" Erza said before Gray could say anything else.

"Okay, Juvia casts 'Chromatic Orb' which does acid damage," the blue-haired woman said and rolled her dice, scoring well and letting out a small cheer as a result. She followed up with her damage, scoring 19 overall.

To her surprise and to rest of the group, Gray beamed at her before announcing what happened next, "The demon, already weak from Luna's light magic, gets covered in acid which serves as the killing blow needed to end its shadowy existence."

Lucy let out a cheer as Natsu went back to pestering Gray about his character's consciousness again.

A few minutes later, Gajeel finally returned and inquired as to what he missed but he didn't seem to upset by not being able to participate.

Gray finally let the guys characters regain consciousness although Lucy wasn't sure why Gray had wanted to keet them out of combat to begin with. If Juvia's gleeful expression was anything to go by, it had certainly been deliberate on his part – perhaps for her sake in some way?

' _Oh well, it doesn't really matter, we beat it in the end!'_

The group eventually met up and the rest of the session was spent in the Dwarven town, restocking, getting some much needed rest and of course, trying to prevent Salamander from causing any fires. As for the flute – it was swiftly confiscated by Erza once again.

* * *

**Thursday** **, September 24th**

Ever since their last session of D&D on Saturday, Lucy's week had been very different from the weeks previously. For instance, her internship had become even more frustrating for her. Her boss, whilst he was communicating with her more about actual journalism-related matters, he was also becoming bolder in his flirtations and sending her out on more frequent coffee shop runs.

Lucy didn't know how he could handle so much caffeine in his system but she was quickly able to conclude that Dan was doing it for two reasons. Firstly, to talk to her and most likely to look indiscreetly at her well-endowed chest area in the fitted shirt that she wore to work. The second was to actually take the coffee that _she_ had been told to fetch which he would then give to other women in the department and tell them that _he_ went out and bought it for them.

That was incredibly annoying to listen to from across the room as she sat trying to work in her little cubicle but she was also glad that as the 'coffee girl' that she wouldn't be subject to his deception herself.

This all eventually connected to the other big difference in her week. After a week of silence from Natsu in the group chat, he was now suddenly privately messaging more frequently with all kinds of topics. It started as expected – just talking about D&D and how the session went.

Then the topic of food came up.

Then video games.

Then reasons why Gray could never beat him in a fight.

In return, she started telling him about her days which included about how awful her job could be at times. He told her to just a 'get a new one' so she then had to explain what an internship was and why she couldn't just 'quit'.

Natsu then told her about how boring the job was at times too. Lucy got the sense that Natsu wanted to do something that would excite him or challenge him in some way. She genuinely hoped he could find whatever that was one day.

It was on Thursday evening, not long after Lucy had finished up her supper and had just sat down to do some writing that Natsu sent her another message.

 **Natsu:** _wana hang out on fri?_

Lucy was at the point now where she didn't really have to think too much about her answers to him anymore – she was comfortable to just be herself without the fear of saying something inappropriate. Natsu was the far more inappropriate one in her eyes.

 **Lucy:** _You mean tomorrow?_

 **Natsu:** _yeh_

 **Lucy:** _At the store?_

 **Natsu:** _yeh duh we can watch the nxt lotr movie_

 **Lucy:** _Lotr?_

 **Natsu:** _lord of the rings_

 **Lucy:** _Oh, right! I would love to! But aren't Sabertooth playing then? It will be loud and busy?_

 **Natsu:** _shit your right_

 **Lucy:** _Maybe another day is better?_

When Natsu didn't immediately reply, Lucy returned to her writing, a little unfocused and disappointed but she was determined to finish her current chapter for that evening.

She didn't get very far into it before her phone buzzed again.

 **N** **atsu:** _wana watch it at my place? or yours_

 **L** **ucy:** _I don't own a TV…_

 **Natsu:** _weirdo_

 **Lucy:** _Hey!_

 **Natsu:** _my place then? can get pizza or somefin_

Lucy was ready to tap out her reply – that she was more than happy to go to his place to watch the next installment of Lord of the Rings with him. She had been wondering when they would get around to it. But as she formed her response, she considered exactly what he was asking her.

He was asking her to go to his place to watch a movie.

He was asking _only_ her.

… Was Natsu asking her on a date?

As the panic set in, her finger absentmindedly holding down a key on her laptop keyboard and leaving a huge paragraph of just 'w' in her novel's latest chapter, Lucy's mind began racing.

' _He surely wasn't… there's no way that he would.'_

Whether it was the creative writing she had been engaging in or not, she played out the possibility that Natsu might like her in that way. She could almost hear the cheesy romantic music in the background as she envisioned Natsu approaching her with a bouquet of red roses as he proudly beamed with that smile of his, his usually boisterous self now calm and saying sweet words of affection into her ear, his warm breath against her skin…

' _What the hell?! Cut it out, Lucy!'_

Lucy was not in the habit of telling herself off but she felt it was needed as Natsu's question had completely caught her off guard and resulted in her imagination going off the rails.

"He's not interested in you like that and he's also not your type, remember?" she found herself saying aloud. This seemed to do the trick as after a minute or two, she felt her sense of logic and reasoning return to her.

' _This is Natsu we're talking about, he just wants to hang out.'_

Taking her phone into her palm, she went about replying without trying to think about it too much.

 **Lucy:** _Sure! Sounds fun!_

A few moments later, Natsu had typed out his address to which Lucy had to lookup online, just to be sure he hadn't got any of his details incorrect. To her surprise, his address indicated that he lived not too far from her, in an apartment block it seemed and also in the rougher side of town.

It explained why they had crossed paths on the night of Loke's party. If Erza wasn't insisting on driving her home after every session, she would be walking in the same direction as him until they reached the main bridge.

It had her both curious and worried. Whereas she avoided that side of the canal due to the stories and higher crimes rates that were reported there, she felt immediate concern for Natsu who now apparently lived there.

Did he have problems in that side of town? Did he get involved in crime himself? Was he a frequent victim of crime over there? He's not a member of that Tartaros gang that's all over that area, is he? Was it even safe for her to walk over there by herself?

Her phone buzzed again.

 **Natsu:** _im bored, gona play some games. C u friday_

' _He certainly gets to the point.'_

' _That's right, Natsu does just sort of state what he's going to do without hiding anything.'_

' _So if he wanted a date, he would have just said…'_

With her mind set on the fact that this was certainly not a date, Lucy took a deep breath and tried to return to her writing.

Ten minutes later and some corrections to her more recent paragraph complete, Lucy still wasn't feeling settled in the slightest. As usual, she was having trouble pinpointing why. She wasn't sure if it was the prospect of going to Natsu's place or the area itself of where he lived.

Lucy felt the need to talk to someone about this – to get it off her chest at least so she can get back to writing.

She made her way over to her bed, lying on top of the covers and held out her phone over her head as she scrolled through her contacts (which wasn't many but she tried to not add the notion that her social life could be better to her already messy thoughts).

She didn't want Erza or Juvia to know – they might blow it out of proportion and make D&D a nightmare next week. That extended to Cana too as she could practically hear Cana in her mind making a big deal out of it. That left the reasonable Levy as her most viable choice, although there was the possibility that she could be busy with her studies that evening.

Lucy tapped to dial the number before holding the cell to her ear as she pondered exactly what she was going to say to Levy. It had been a while since they had properly spoken over the phone.

It rang momentarily before a familiar voice answered.

" _Lucy? Hi! How have you been?"_ spoke the voice of Lucy's favorite bookworm.

Lucy smiled at just hearing Levy's voice and how cheerful she sounded. She knew that Levy had been doing well from their messaging but just hearing it in the tone of her voice was rewarding enough in itself.

"Hey, Levy! I'm doing well… I just thought I'd catch up and uh, other things…" Lucy murmured as she thought about how to bring up that she was going over to Natsu's place on the bad side of town. She wasn't entirely sure if Levy would tell her off for agreeing to venture on a potentially dangerous outing.

" _Glad to hear it! I read your latest draft- it's really good although I have some pointers-"_

Lucy knew that if they got talking on that subject, it could go on for hours and they would never get any other sort of topic to come up in discussion. Still, she felt bad about having to cut Levy's sentence off.

"-Actually… I wanted to ask… uh…" Lucy stuttered.

" _Lulu?"_

"Ugh, please don't call me that – it's what Dan does and I hate it now," Lucy found herself saying, realizing her response was abrupt but also knowing that that nickname was well and truly ruined for her.

" _Oh, sorry, Lucy. Is he still that bad?"_

"He's been particularly bad this week like you wouldn't believe," Lucy said exasperatedly.

" _I wish you didn't have to put up with that… By the way, are we still on for me staying at your place next month?"_ Levy quickly asked.

"Of course! I can't wait to see you!" Lucy said, smiling at the thought. It would be like old times and as a bonus, one of her favorite authors, Zaleon, was releasing a new book that week called 'Daybreak' that she had hoped that they could both go and pick up a copy of to discuss it together as they often had done in the past.

" _I can't wait either! It's going to be so much fun! … Oh! I've also spoken to Cana lately – it seems she's given up on the idea of you and Loke you know… becoming a thing."_

Lucy felt immediate relief that Cana was no longer playing matchmaker but also a little guilt that she should probably spend more time with Loke. She hadn't had much of a chance to talk to him what with working and playing D&D. It was all beginning to make her feel like a bad friend.

"I haven't seen Loke in a few weeks…" Lucy quietly and guiltily admitted over the phone.

"… _Because of Natsu?"_ Levy suddenly asked, causing Lucy to sit up at the unanticipated question.

"W-What? Why? How?! … and no!" Lucy spluttered back. It was going to get even more awkward when she would try to explain her plans for tomorrow now.

" _Cana said she went to one of your D &D nights – she said there was chemistry between you two," _Levy said with mischief evident in her tone.

"Okay, one – Cana was _drunk_ as always and two – Natsu and I are just friends!" Lucy declared but the gentle snickers from Levy suggested that she wasn't believing any of that much to Lucy's annoyance.

" _Regardless, Lucy, Cana thinks Loke might have backed off because of that."_

"Seriously, we're just friends! He's not my type!"

" _You're always talking about him in your messages, Lucy. It's always 'Natsu did this', 'Natsu did that'."_

"I don't talk about him that much- just when it's related to D&D!" Lucy insisted to her.

" _Oh? When was the last time you spoke to Natsu that wasn't related to D &D then?"_ Levy challenged her and Lucy knew at that point, she was well and truly caught. She smacked her forehead lightly as what she was going to say next wasn't going to support her case.

"Um, we messaged about thirty minutes ago… but that doesn't prove anything!"

" _Uh huh… and what were you messaging about?"_ Levy cooed.

Lucy took a deep breath, knowing she was going to regret this, "We were making plans to go over to his place to watch a movie tomorrow."

Lucy heard Levy's breath hitch on the other end of the phone before her voice took on a definitely, smug tone.

" _So, a date then? Cana was right!"_ Levy said excitedly.

"No! It's not!" Lucy once again insisted as a part of her felt like banging her head against her wooden bed frame in frustration.

" _I certainly didn't see you falling for Magnolia's resident firecracker, that's for sure!"_ Levy blithely continued as Lucy could only sigh in defeat. It wasn't a date, Natsu wasn't interested and he wasn't her type but evidently, there was no convincing Levy of that tonight.

"For the last time, I'm not- Look, I wanted to ask you about it actually," Lucy replied, wanting the teasing to be over and done with already.

" _Sure, what's up?"_

"Natsu's place is well… you know, across the canal from mine," Lucy tried to explain, knowing that Levy, being from Magnolia, would understand to what she was getting at.

" _Oh? … Oh! Lucy, don't go there alone, okay? Tartaros is all over that area and whilst I don't doubt you_ _r bravery_ _, it's not safe,"_ Levy explained, her voice no longer gleeful but concerned.

"But what about uh… Natsu? He's not involved with them is he?"

" _What? Oh heavens, no! I remember Natsu being a goofball at school but he didn't put up with Tartaros in the slightest,"_ Levy explained with confidence, _"I don't really recall much else though but I don't think you have to anything to worry about regarding Natsu other than him_ _maybe_ _accidentally burning your books or something."_

Lucy recoiled in horror at the thought, "No, not my books!"

Levy giggled, _"Not on purpose anyway."_

Thankfully, their conversation swiftly moved on from that as they returned to planning out Levy's impending visit. Lucy felt much more at ease, with Levy having reassured her that Natsu wasn't involved in some criminal gang. She would have to put some money aside for a reputable taxi to go over to his place but hopefully, it would be a pleasant evening of watching the Two Towers with her tressym-owning, fire-magic-using, dragon-loving friend.

Not love interest.

Friend.

… Right?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had a bit of a think about how to add 'Happy' to the story whilst also keeping him in relative character. I considered that it would be unlike Gray to want to roleplay as Natsu's pet (outside of some fetish fanfiction out there…) and more fun for everyone to have a go at it, providing plenty of opportunities for everyone at the table to wind Lucy up. It's a bit unconventional to do in D&D but I think I could make it work.
> 
> Also, I am aware that the singular term for 'dice' is 'die' but I figured using that would be confusing for readers.
> 
> I finally told my DM about this fic and whilst he doesn't read fanfiction, he has seen Fairy Tail and he gave me some tips about writing the D&D combat portion of this chapter.
> 
> Next Chapter: Time to watch the next LOTR movie! Will probably be a long chapter.
> 
> D&D Terms:  
> Metagaming: When a player uses their real-life knowledge to determine their character's actions despite their character having no such knowledge  
> Railroading: When the DM forces the player characters down a specific story or quest with no means of avoiding it


	17. It's Dangerous to Go Alone

**7pm,** **Friday** **, S** **eptember** **25** **th**

Lucy had a distinct feeling of déjà vu as she stood in front of her wardrobe, staring at the selection of her fancier clothing choices and was trying to decide on what to wear for an evening of watching a fantasy movie at Natsu's place.

It was much like preparing for Loke's party all over again except this was vastly different. This was a casual affair, no dress-up required. This was just two friends hanging out. It was going to be no different than when her and Levy used to meet up.

So why was she fussing over an outfit?

Shaking her head and practically slamming her wardrobe doors closed, she tottered over to her dresser to get a much more sensible choice of a t-shirt and skirt.

Once Lucy had changed, she decided to apply a light application of make-up and make her hair much more presentable after drying it from the long time spent in the bath after she had finally finished work for the week, relieved to not have to see Dan and put up with his antics for two whole days.

Settling on having two straight pigtails, she was about to apply perfume before she was interrupted by loud banging at her front door.

Settling down the glass bottle, she hurried out of her bathroom and through her living room to answer it, expecting a salesman or something whom she would politely decline as she would have to start heading out soon.

To her surprise, she swung upon the door towards her and was met with pink hair, a soft white scarf and of course, a black t-shirt with a fierce-looking red dragon on it.

"Natsu?" Lucy exclaimed as he widely grinned and simply walked into her apartment without invitation. Unexpected guests were one thing but barging into your personal space was just plain rude! Yet it was such a Natsu thing to do!

"Yo!" He greeted as he looked around, getting a good look at her furnishings in her living room.

"Why are you here? We're going to your place, right?" She asked as something on her desk caught Natsu's attention, causing the young man to amble over to it.

"Yeah, but I'm gonna walk you over. It'd be pretty dumb of you to go by yourself," he teased as he tapped on what Lucy could see was the rough, hand-written draft of her latest chapter in her novel. She often did that – plan out chapters by hand before actually typing them up on her laptop.

Lucy ignored his teasing as Levy's comment resurfaced about Natsu's ability to _somehow_ accidentally set fire to things quickly came to mind.

"Is this your book?" Natsu asked, picking up the notebook. "Does it have any dragons in it yet?"

Lucy dashed over as fast as she could to snatch it from Natsu's grasp and held it to her chest protectively, "Please don't touch this."

Natsu studied her curiously for a moment before he nodded, "Okay."

Unfortunately, Natsu merely directed his attention elsewhere – namely the armchair and he practically threw himself over it, landing with a thud and causing Lucy to worry he would break it entirely.

"This is way nicer than my couch, Lucy!" He exclaimed, bouncing up and down for a second to get a feel for it. "We should hang out here next time."

' _Next time?'_

Not wanting to witness Natsu potentially destroy anything of hers, Lucy decided it would be best just to hurry things up.

"Let me get my jacket and boots and then we can get going," she said, placing her notebook back down on her desk neatly before turning heel.

* * *

Transitioning from her apartment to the street outside didn't take long and Natsu was quick to direct in the direction of the bridge as they walked side by side together. As if it were a memory that had happened only recently, Lucy briefly recalled that last time they had walked along Strawberry Street together – she was tipsy and he held her hand with his.

The fact that he wasn't doing it this time made her feel… lonely maybe?

The same feeling as last time was still there though. She felt safe. She felt as though nothing could happen to her with Natsu there beside her.

Lucy mentally cursed that her feelings and sudden urges to do things that she would never normally do were toying with her like this. A part of her wanted to blame Levy for all the teasing last night. Her imagination was clearly out of whack and she just needed to get her head together.

"I was going to get a taxi you know," Lucy suddenly blurted out as she tried to return to what she had wanted to say earlier to him in her apartment. "You didn't need to come get me."

It sounded so cold once she realized how she had said it and internally cringed.

' _Great job, Lucy, now you sound ungrateful.'_

"This is more fun though," Natsu replied, unbothered by what she had said in the slightest, "and why bother paying for a taxi when it's not even that far to walk?"

Once again, she glanced over Natsu, still dressed as if it were summer. He looked… happy. Definitely happy. He wasn't smiling or flashing his toothy grin, but his demeanor felt a little different now. She wasn't even sure how she could describe it which felt pretty bad of her considering she wanted to write for a living.

It was as if… Natsu was carefree before and just sort of did the things he wanted to – whether it was just being helpful and kind or whether it was being mischievous or challenging guys to fights. Now Natsu looked as if… he had a plan?

Perhaps it was just her overactive imagination again playing wither again.

But when she thought about it further, Natsu in general had been a lot more talkative all week. She wasn't sure if it was something to do with his missing father or whether giving him that tressym miniature had given him the go-ahead to try and become better friends with her.

Honestly, she wanted to ask more about his dad. It was selfish, she knew, to bring up memories for him that were probably painful and difficult to talk about but she couldn't help but be curious. She wanted to help him in his search but it seemed presumptuous to just invite herself to help him without his agreement first. She also wanted to know because well… Igneel sounded like the father she never really had.

Except that wasn't really true. There were some good memories with her own father.

Lucy shook her head lightly, vowing not to ruin their evening of just hanging out, eating food and watching a movie together. This was supposed to be fun – not another gut-wrenching visit to the past.

"What's wrong, Lucy?" Natsu suddenly asked, looking to her with concern in his dark green eyes. "I can tell somethin's up with ya."

She never was that good at hiding things.

"It's nothing, just thinking!" Lucy said, smiling back to reassure him.

"Ya sure?" He double-checked, crossing his arms in a fashion that indicated that he wasn't believing her in the slightest.

Lucy didn't want to lie to him nor going digging into his past. It was thanks to her quick thinking that she was quick to spot one of the many friendly corner shops on the street that they were about to make a turn in to and it would provide the perfect distraction for Natsu.

"Yeah, I was just thinking that I should pick up a few things to have with the movie!" Lucy announced to him, pointing out to the small, quiet store which caused Natsu to look over to it straight away. The store in question was actually one that Lucy frequented a lot in the year prior to starting her internship – she was always popping in late at night for a milky coffee to take home as she worked on her assignment papers.

"I was gonna order us somethin' when we got to mine," Natsu replied before quickly looking pleased, his smile returning with Lucy's suggestion. "… but I'm not gonna say no to extra food."

"Let's go then!" Lucy declared, "bet I can beat you to the store first!"

She began speeding up her pace until she was practically running towards the store, giggling a little as she glanced behind her and seeing a bemused Natsu suddenly take off after her. Lucy acknowledged she was being silly, childish and this was out of character for her to do but it worked. In a way, it felt absolutely freeing to just be dashing through the streets.

Natsu was quick about catching up and overtaking her, shouting that she didn't stand a chance and needed more training before running on ahead. She may jog on a regular basis but there wasn't a chance that she could keep up with him. For someone whose interests included dragons, video games and D&D, he was certainly athletic and evidently those muscles of his weren't just for show.

Sprinting for short bursts of time was never Lucy's strong suit and when she caught up with him, he was smugly stood outside the store looking as if he hadn't struggled in the slightest whereas she was lightly panting.

"So… what do I win?" Natsu teasingly asked her and Lucy could only chuckle in response in between taking a few breaths.

"Uh, popcorn," she managed to say once she caught her breath and she sauntered over to the automatic doors of the store, entering before Natsu could gloat at her although she didn't even know if he would. She was just glad to have stopped him pushing for her to tell him what she had been thinking about.

Natsu followed her in and Lucy pointed out to where she knew the popcorn was, "Go grab a bag, I'll pay for it."

He didn't waste any time going down the aisle to browse the selection and Lucy made her way over to the cashier at the register whom she knew through Cana but only as acquaintances.

"Good evening, Bacchus!" She greeted the well-built man who was currently leaning against the counter, skimming through his phone and generally looking a bit bored. Lucy hadn't seen him on the night of Loke's party all those weeks ago so this was the first time she had seen him in months.

"Lucy! How've you been?!" He called out, looking up and easily recognizing her.

"I'm good – it's been a while hasn't it?" Lucy warmly responded.

Bacchus set his phone down, eyeing the shelves of liquor behind him briefly before facing towards the espresso machine. It was nothing fancy – in fact it was worn and old but was fine for simple white or black coffee.

"Your usual? I didn't think you were studying again," he asked, holding out his hand to which Lucy understood was his way of asking for her reusable cup that she usually brought with her.

"Actually no, I'm just grabbing a few things with a friend," Lucy sweetly answered, making her way over to one of the refrigerators not too far from the register to grab a couple of chilled bottled cola.

"Friend? I don't see anyone?" Bacchus confusedly asked, looking briefly around him.

It was as Lucy turned back with the cola in hand and made her way back towards the register that Natsu appeared from the aisles at the counter.

"Yo! I'm the friend!" He greeted Bacchus with and placed a bag of popcorn down in front of him by the register. There was something odd about the way Natsu greeted him but Lucy couldn't pinpoint what it was.

"Eh? Not seen you before?" Bacchus asked before turning in Lucy's direction. "Lucy, when did you start making manly friends?!"

Lucy hurried back over to the register, taking a comfortable place standing beside Natsu, brushing against his arm slightly and realizing that Natsu was somewhat tense. It only lasted a very briefly moment before he relaxed again.

' _That was strange.'_

Ignoring that, she continued on with her conversation. "Yep, this is Natsu, we met over at Strauss Games. Do you know of it?" Lucy asked, making casual conversation as Bacchus ran up the drinks and popcorn before putting them into a brown paper bag.

"Heard of it. The nerd shop, right?" Bacchus blithely answered as Lucy took out her card to pay for the items.

"Yeah, I play there every weekend with Natsu… You know Cana's been there too now."

Bacchus paused for a moment in taking payment to raise a suspicious eyebrow at her – as if he didn't believe her for a second.

He lightly snorted. "Huh…I wouldn't have thought. Hey, say hi to her for me will ya?" He asked as Lucy put away her card and went to grab their purchases from the counter.

"Sure thing! See you around, Bacchus!" Lucy called and nudging Natsu's arm to leave. Bacchus offered a small wave before going back to leaning on the counter, whipping his phone out and presumably went back to doing whatever it was he was doing before they had arrived.

With two small bottles of cola and one bag of 'red hot cinnamon' flavored popcorn bought and paid for, the pair of them left the store and they began making their way down the sidewalk towards the bridge.

Lucy couldn't help but nervously wonder what Natsu's part of town looked like. She had heard the rumors, she had knowledge of the main gang that ruled that area, 'Tartaros' and she was beginning to think she had made a mistake in choosing to wear a skirt as she vaguely recalled the wolf whistles that she had to put up with that came from the other side of the canal.

At least Natsu was there and she took what comfort she could at the safety he offered as they approached the bridge and began crossing over.

Lucy abruptly stopped in her tracks. She just had to know what she was walking into.

"Hey, Natsu?"

Natsu turned, stopping when he saw that she was no longer walking, "What's up?" he asked.

"Is it… is it safe?" She struggled to ask, looking to Natsu in a way of asking for reassurance.

"Huh?" He quickly looked around as if he were expecting someone to jump him.

"I mean… will we be okay? I heard that Tartaros does a lot of bad things." It was a silly question really. Natsu lived in that area and was perfectly fine.

None the less, her perhaps sensible or maybe foolish decision earlier in the do a search on Tartaros on her laptop had definitely given her cause to worry. Articles from Magnolia spanning several years – some as old as when she would have been only four years old, told stories of drug crimes, torture, human trafficking and worse. There was an element of sensationalism to them for sure – her writing experience had made identifying that easy but knowing that didn't really ease her mind either.

Her question was soon answered discourteously when Natsu laughed, "Course' we will be! Tartaros are a bunch of wimps – I've taken them on plenty of times."

Lucy was having a difficult time understanding what he meant by that. "You've… taken them on?"

"Yep, Tartaros is a big gang but they target teenagers to recruit into their ranks when they are still in high school," Natsu explained. "So there were a few of them about back when I was still in school."

Lucy shook her head at him, "This isn't school though, Natsu."

Natsu tutted at her, almost looking offended at her for stating the obvious, "I know that. I've lived here a while now – they mostly leave me alone and the ones that don't…"

Natsu smacked his fist into other palm, proudly, as if he loved the very idea of engaging in fist fight with them. Lucy wasn't sure how much she liked Natsu's obvious approval of using violence but given Tartaro's reputation, she couldn't blame him either.

"Let's go already. I'm still hungry," Natsu suddenly said, dropping his fists and turning away from her, already starting to walk ahead towards Tartaro's part of town as if it were no big deal at all.

Lucy remained still, struggling to step forward as her fear of the potential and unknown dangers filled her with doubts.

Her lack of footsteps must not have gone amiss by Natsu who quickly stopped, turned and looked at her in confusion – as if it were supposed to be easy to just walk into a gang's territory.

It was probably easy for him – he wasn't a woman, he was unlikely to be targeted for truly horrid things.

"Lucy, it'll be fine!" Natsu insisted in a carefree manner. "I'll protect you, I promise."

Hearing that was enough to make her take a step forwards, gulping nervously. Then another. It didn't take much for her to catch up to Natsu, taking her place by his side and trusting that he would keep that promise.

A Heartfilia always kept their promises – whose to say Natsu wouldn't keep his?

* * *

The streets beyond the bridge didn't feel any different to begin with. The buildings were dated although looked nothing alike to 'Old Magnolia', a more historic part of town where period buildings, structures and statues could be found.

However, as Natsu guided Lucy around a corner, the difference between her neighborhood and his was quickly becoming apparent. The streetlights flickered – many of the bulbs were out, leaving some parts of the sidewalk completely dark. Old soggy newspapers, soda and beer cans littered the street gutters, broken glass was scattered across the road. It wasn't long before they passed run-down stores with their rollers down, graffiti of the Tartaros logo newly spray-painted on the metal surfaces.

Several buildings were boarded up although some weren't – those ones were stores that were clearly open for business, the neon-pink signs indicating that they were far from the types of places that Lucy would ever step into. She could only imagine the look of horror on her father's face if she ever walked inside of one.

She sorely hoped that Natsu wasn't a regular customer.

After another minute of walking and Lucy began to notice other people on the other side of the street, stopping and looking over their way. Their stares were unnerving as Lucy suspected they were sizing her up more so than Natsu.

Despite this, she didn't want to judge them and decide that they were criminals without any reason for doing so. They might be perfectly innocent. But telling herself this wasn't working as well as she hoped it would.

It was at that point that Lucy felt her hand being grabbed by Natsu, no doubt sensing her unease and it caused her to jump slightly but his warmth assured her she was safe. She believed it too. Natsu could be rude, he could be reckless, but clearly he was just as protective as his D&D character was.

The implication that was associated with hand-holding didn't even cross her mind as this was entirely about him looking after her well-being.

She continued to let him lead her in silence. She didn't want them to draw attention to themselves with loud talking nor distract Natsu from him being vigilant as he guided her through the urban neighborhood.

They turned another corner which led into a better-lit street but Lucy still remained anxious, squeezing Natsu's calloused hand a little tighter and if he hat at all minded, he didn't say anything.

It wasn't long before he came to a stop outside an apartment block, plain in design and structure but not nearly as shady looking as some as the other deprecated buildings that they had passed.

"Here we are!" Natsu announced although at not nearly as high a volume at which he usually spoke. "My place is on the third floor. Gimme a sec to get my keys."

To her disappointment, Natsu let go of her hand and Lucy felt her source of comfort rapidly fade from her. Instead, he went to check each of his pockets – clearly not remembering in which of them that he carried his keys. By comparison, Lucy always knew where her keys were at all times as though they were one of her most treasured possessions. How Natsu could be so careless with his own keys was strange to Lucy – it just didn't sit right with her at all.

He eventually pulled out a key from his back pocket, gesturing for her to follow him as he clumsily unlocked the door to the lobby and shoving a rather squeaky door open.

Never one to be a gentleman, Natsu did not hold open the door for her to go through first but instead took Lucy's more preferable option of taking her hand back into his and pulling her inside with him.

The lobby was shabby with some of the mailboxes looking on the more 'beat up' end of the spectrum. As expected, there was no elevator to use but it wasn't if the building had that many floors anyway.

"This way," Natsu said, tugging Lucy in the direction of the stairs. Lucy could practically hear her boots squeaking along the linoleum floor.

Once again, Natsu let go of her hand as he made some bounding steps up the stairwell, Lucy lagging behind with much more delicate footsteps but not as ladylike as one might have expected from someone of her background.

On reaching the third floor, Natsu waited for Lucy at the top as she stared up at him, frowning slightly that he had just gone and left her behind.

"Took ya long enough!" He bantered as he turned and thudded roughly three doors down before stopping and gesturing for Lucy to hurry up and catch up with him.

Once she did, Lucy looked to him in earnest. "This is it?" She asked as Natsu fiddle with the lock on the door.

"Yep, this is it. Home sweet home," he confirmed, displaying some pride in introducing her to it.

Upon unlocking the door, Natsu had to give it a light kick to get it to swing open before turning to Lucy as she looked on, ready to see what the home of her friend and definitely not love interest, looked like.

She had read the stories about single men and their bachelor pads – that they would be messy, sparsely furnished and lacking feminine colors. Loke's place was an exception, he being from a high class and wealthy background and most likely being able to afford the staff to clean it for him.

Lucy didn't think she would mind what Natsu's home looked like as long as it was clean and comfortable enough to watch a movie in.

However, Natsu's apartment was not what she had expected at all.

Stepping inside after Natsu, she noticed that the space wasn't huge, but it was open plan as well as being a studio apartment, immediately recognizing that the space was roughly divided into four distinct sections. What did stand out to her however, was that it was clean – almost immaculately so.

"It's cleaner than my place…" Lucy uttered as she walked in further, her eyes scanning the layout carefully, the kitchen area especially – she always kept her own exceptionally tidy.

"It ought to be after what Erza put me through a few hours ago," Natsu responded, catching Lucy unaware as she didn't think he had heard her mumbling. She would have thought she would have gotten used to that by now – he always heard her mumbles.

' _Wait? Did he say Erza? As in, Erza made him do this?'_

"Erza made you clean up?" Lucy asked, spinning around in horror. Natsu had told Erza about this?! He had told Erza about this… this… not-date! And now Erza was going to say something to the others at D&D and then everyone would think that they were dating and-

"Yeah, when I told her that you were coming over, she came over after I was done at work and made me clean it all…" he explained grumpily. "She threatened to hit me with the mop."

Putting the amusing image of Erza chasing Natsu around with a mop aside, the fact remained that Erza was probably thinking the same thing as everyone else. That this was a date.

Dates were supposed to be romantic with flowers and sharing chocolate fondue over live music that featured violins – not whatever this was! So this couldn't be a date. End of. And as this was definitely not a date, Lucy was going to look around her friend's place without worrying about doing anything remotely close to doing anything associated with dates.

"I'm gonna order the food 'cause I'm already getting hungry," Natsu suddenly said, closing his apartment door, slipping his sneakers off and practically throwing himself on his couch.

Lucy left him to it as she had to roll down her boots to take them off, then she carried in the brown paper bag of her purchase from the corner shop, making her way over to the small kitchen. She didn't hesitate to run a finger over the spotless counter surfaces and promising herself to ask Erza for some cleaning tips next time she saw her.

She also found that it was easy to study the rest of the large open room from where she stood.

The lounge area was in one corner of the room which contained a single worn leathery couch that Natsu was now sprawled out across as he tapped away on his cellphone. It faced a decently sized widescreen TV that was mounted to the wall although it didn't compare to the TV that her father owned in her former home. She spotted a myriad of consoles and wires underneath it along with stacks of DVD shaped cases stockpiled to one side – probably video games and maybe a selection of movies.

What was most eye-catching was the single display case to the other side of the TV and although Lucy couldn't directly see what exactly it contained, she could definitely see it was a collection of miniatures and the like.

When her eyes found the other side of the room, it made Lucy feel a little indecent to observe it – a freshly made small double bed that looked surprisingly well kept compared to some of the shabbier furniture choices in the room, as if it had barely been used. Unwanted memories came up of her father's uncomfortable 'talk' that he'd had with her when she was a few years younger, about what all men and the sorts of things they wanted and would expect from her.

' _Natsu seems like he wouldn't ever want that kind of thing.'_

Perhaps her father was wrong – aside from encountering a few bad eggs and receiving the occasional unwanted attention, the current men in her life were nice, friendly and mostly respectful… when they weren't barging into her apartment. Even Loke, who was not discreet the slightest with his compliments and flirtations, was never inappropriate like that.

Somewhere in between the two 'sections' of the room was an old battered desk and chair and Lucy recognized the contents that sat on top – little paint tins like the ones she had bought to paint Happy. There was a pot of various sized brushes too.

Curiously, a large, half-closed cardboard box sat to the side of the desk and Lucy felt the urge to look inside but refrained herself from going over and doing so. Rummaging through other people's belongings was something she wasn't about to do. Her keen eye caught a glimpse of the slightly open part that it perhaps contained books making the urge to investigate it harder to avoid.

A small selection of dumbbells sat neatly beside it, their sizes indicating that they would definitely be too heavy for her to lift.

As for Natsu's kitchen – it had the basics, a fridge, a cooker, an oven, microwave, sink. Everything you would expect to find. Lucy was dubious about looking inside Natsu's cupboards, however – not because be extremely inappropriate of her but because she half-expected a mountain of snacks to come tumbling out and bury her right there and then in the middle of the kitchen.

She guessed that Natsu's bathroom must be through a door that she passed when she first entered the apartment.

Lucy went about unpacking the meager contents of the paper bag, wanting to put away the cola in the fridge and leave the popcorn on the side for later. Hot cinnamon flavor though? Natsu's taste palette was certainly… exotic.

When she opened the fridge, however, she was surprised to find it surprisingly empty with only a few basics in stock – milk, eggs and an opened packet of ham. Rather than question Natsu about his odd living choices, Lucy simply put away the bottles to chill.

"Hey, Lucy? Did you want a pizza or something else?" Natsu called out from the worn couch.

"Anything is fine by me!" Lucy called out as she gently shut the refrigerator door and deciding to go have a good look at Natsu's display case.

"You sure? I can get somethin' else," he murmured back. "Anything you haven't had in a while?"

Lucy didn't ask why Natsu was suddenly concerned about what type of food she wanted as she had a sneaking suspicion that he would eat just about anything you would put in front of him. She also hadn't treated herself in a while to takeaway food and the devious part of her really wanted to indulge just a little.

"Hmm, well I guess I haven't had white Clover dumplings in a while," she idly commented with a naughty grin.

Natsu sat up from lounging on the couch, sitting forward and began to rapidly tap on his phone's screen.

Lucy went back to paying attention to the contents of the display case – the case itself looked cheap but the miniatures inside gleamed with love and care. The most prominent of which was a large red dragon that sat on the top shelf, delicately painted and shaded in hues of scarlet and sunset yellow. It sat on a pile of coins and gems that came in a variety of metallic colors, evidently showing that the dragon was guarding its treasure.

"That's the dragon that Salamander's lookin' for," Natsu commented although he didn't take his gaze away from the phone as he scrolled through his options.

"That Salamander's looking for?" Lucy echoed back, looking over to him and confused as to why Natsu had suddenly decided to mention it in casual passing.

Natsu briefly glanced up at her, nodding, "Yeah, my character in D&D. He's trying to find his dad – a red dragon."

Lucy probably should have given more thought to the words that came next that spilled out of her mouth, "Oh, so like you and Igneel!"

She grimaced immediately as she expected a baleful reaction from Natsu.

Natsu shrugged, "Kinda, yeah."

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to bring all of that up again!" Lucy frantically tried to explain but Natsu merely cocked an eyebrow at her. "I know it's painful for you and I-"

"Stop fussin', it doesn't bother me," Natsu said as if she was being more annoying than anything else.

"It-it doesn't?" Lucy stammered, not expected Natsu to be so casual about it, recalling how pained he looked previously when he first told her about Igneel in the basement of Strauss Games.

"Nope, 'cause I'm gonna find Igneel again just like Salamander's gonna find that dragon," Natsu stated, smiling slightly before he went back to looking at his phone.

Lucy didn't know if she felt relieved to hear that or silly for assuming that he would be upset if she brought it up again. Natsu had thicker skin than she bargained for and that made sense really, given his upbringing.

Although Natsu had for some reason, without being asked, just told her what his D&D character was trying to do yet he hadn't revealed that to anyone during their sessions so far. There was the possibility he had told everyone at the table when they first started the campaign when his brother was still playing but it seemed odd that he suddenly just wanted to tell her in passing. She really wasn't sure if she should tell him about her own character's intentions.

"Aren't we supposed to keep our character's objectives a secret?" Lucy asked.

"Only if you want to," Natsu replied, not looking up.

Lucy went back to looking at the display case, smiling briefly when she caught sight of Happy, sitting comfortably next to Salamander on the second tier shelf. She concluded that Natsu must have really approved of the miniature if it earned a place in his case like this. Still, her eyes kept finding her way back up to the dragon and the magnificence of it.

"Alright, food's ordered," Natsu said happily, tossing his phone down on the only side table beside the sofa and getting up to go stand beside Lucy as she gazed at the painted dragon.

"How much was it?" Lucy asked, making sure that she was going to pay her share.

"Doesn't matter, I got it this time," Natsu replied.

"No, tell me," Lucy insisted, her determination to have financial independence making her stubbornness shine through.

"4000 jewel maybe?" Natsu admitted, causing Lucy's eyes to widen in shock. For that amount, it must be well… a lot of food for two people and she only asked for one thing!

She was just about to question Natsu about what exactly he had ordered when she felt him slightly shimmy to stand even closer in front of her - to the point that she could almost feel his unnatural heat radiate off of him. With him being at least half-a-head taller than her, she looked up at him as he stared back down at her as if he were expecting something.

Lucy involuntary blushed as her voice reduced to a quieter volume, "Natsu, what are you-"

They stared awkwardly at each other for a moment and Lucy found herself unable to look away as his eyes roamed the contours of her face.

"You're in the way, Lucy," he told her bluntly.

Lucy, breaking away from his piercing gaze, glanced around and realized she was indeed blocking Natsu's exit from the lounge area.

"Oh! Right!" Lucy said, stepped aside to let Natsu pass as she mentally slapped herself for being such a ditz sometimes.

Natsu plodded into his kitchen, bending down to open one of the cabinets and began to rummage for something.

"What are you doing?" Lucy couldn't stop herself from asking, wandering what he had suddenly needed to go grab from over there.

"I'm getting the movie."

' _Of course, the movie. Because everybody keeps their movies in the kitchen,'_ Lucy sarcastically thought.

Why it wasn't in the stack of cases in the corner of the room with everything else wasn't particularly obvious to Lucy but she decided to let Natsu just do his thing and instead, she went to go settle herself down on his couch. It wasn't as nearly as comfortable as the one at Strauss Games but nice enough.

Lucy recognized the console – it was exactly the same as the one at the store. There was another one she didn't recognize beside it but it looked dustier, indicating it wasn't used as often.

The stack of games and movies made for an interesting browse – titles that weren't present in the basement in the store stood out, such as 'Dragon Quest XI' or 'The Witcher 3'. Boxsets of various TV shows that Lucy had vaguely heard of sat at the bottom of the pile – the most notable being Game of Thrones.

A minute later, Natsu padded over with a BlueRay case in hand and went about inserting the disc into his PlayStation. Before long, he sat back down, leaving some space in between them as he went about setting everything up with a controller in hand.

"I wonder if it will be as good as the book…" Lucy said out loud, voicing her thoughts openly.

"I dunno, I think the movie's pretty good," Natsu replied as though he thought she was asking him a question.

Lucy grinned at him fondly, "I don't think anything is more powerful than your imagination which is what a good book can give you," she explained as Natsu squinted at her in obvious disagreement. "But watching The Fellowship of the Ring with you was pretty fun," she added.

That statement alone was enough to make Natsu grin back at her before he turned to face the TV again to select the movie, "I still can't believe you haven't seen these movies before…" he uttered.

"I've told you before, Natsu… my dad wasn't a fan," Lucy glumly replied.

"Yeah, but why?"

"He believed in a society divided by social status I think. He said he didn't want me to behave like 'some commoner' and preferred that I read classical books or went to the theater," Lucy explained. "It was only when I met Levy that I started watching the same movies that everyone else was."

Natsu sat back, looking up at the ceiling for a moment as if he had just realized something. "Huh," he muttered, looking a bit dumbstruck.

"What?" Lucy asked, wondering how that explanation could have confused him.

"Gajeel once had a girlfriend called that. Weird." Natsu explained, turning his head to face her.

Lucy wasn't sure how common the name 'Levy' was but she doubted it was the same person as to who Natsu was referring to. Both Gajeel and Levy was were vastly different and Levy didn't seem the type to date tough men on motorbikes.

"Yeah, it's probably not the same person," Lucy stated to him.

"Your dad sounds really strict," Natsu said, returning back to the previous subject, his eyes wandering over to the red dragon miniature in his display case for a moment.

"He was- is. My-" Lucy began to say, her breath hitching at the painful memory of that horrible day, no matter of how faint it was now. "My mom died when I was ten… that's when he changed."

Natsu didn't say anything and Lucy wasn't sure if she should continue. She did anyway, deciding not to focus much on what happened exactly, keeping her previous notion of not talking too much about the past in mind.

"It was lonely growing up, that's why… it's important to me to have the friends I do now," she explained quietly.

Natsu cocked his head, his signature smile appearing with a flash of his unique looking canines, "You're not lonely now though?" he gaily asked.

"It's hard to feel lonely when I'm around you, Natsu," Lucy admitted before recoiling at her sudden openness, placing her hands over her mouth at how implicative it sounded!

' _What the hell, Lucy?! He's going to get the wrong idea when you say things like that!'_

When she glanced over at Natsu, he was getting up without a word, leaving Lucy to think she had crossed a line with what she had said.

"Natsu, I'm sorry, I didn't mean it like-" Lucy began to ramble.

Natsu, however, merely made his way over the other side of the room to reach under his bed, "Whaddya saying sorry for? I'm getting you a blanket."

' _Wait… he's doing what?'_

"A blanket?" Lucy questioned, utterly lost at what was happening.

"Yeah, I just remembered you liked having a blanket when you watched the last movie," Natsu replied, pulling out a red tartan blanket and tossing it to her from across the room.

Lucy caught it, scrunching it in her hands before looking at him in utter disbelief.

' _His thought patterns are something else. Did he even hear what I said?'_

Before either of them could say anything else, the buzzer near Natsu's front door went off, alerting the both of them to the fact the food had probably arrived. Lucy wasn't sure how it was so quick but she wasn't about to complain about it being so either.

Natsu was quick to rush over to the door, shouting that he would be back in a minute before dashing out and leaving Lucy alone in his apartment.

If someone had asked Lucy two months ago if she would be sitting in a man's apartment who was borderline obsessed with dragons, she would have laughed at the very idea.

Now, Lucy couldn't imagine a life without Natsu being a part of it.

* * *

The amount of takeaway food on the kitchen counter was excessive. Whether Natsu intended to eat all of it in one sitting or if he planned to have some leftovers to put in his fairly empty fridge wasn't clear. What Lucy did know was that she was positively envious of how much he could eat with a seemingly bottomless stomach and not have an ounce of fat on him.

"Okay, so that's your dumplings," Natsu said, opening up one of the paperboard cartons of food before placing it back down and sliding it over to her. Lucy had to admit, it smelled absolutely divine.

Natsu began opening up several of the others and familiar scents tickled Lucy's nose. Spare ribs, some sort of marinated pork, fried noodles, edamame, sesame chicken, dango, there was even a few lotus buns too.

"How are we supposed to eat all of this?" Lucy couldn't help but ask out loud, causing Natsu to look at her as if it were a redundant question.

"Just watch me, Lucy!" Natsu challenged her as he broke apart one of the pairs of chopsticks that had arrived with the meal. To her disbelief, Natsu simply grabbed the carton of sesame chicken and piled in a few mouthfuls there and then where he stood.

"Um, Natsu, shouldn't we get some plates?" Lucy asked him, looking over towards the overhead cabinets in the kitchen.

Natsu gave a satisfied moan as he swallowed down the food in his mouth before answering her, "Huh, suppose we could, I usually just eat the food like this."

Somehow, that didn't surprise Lucy one little bit. Even if they were to eat from the cartons, Natsu didn't seem to own any kind of dining or coffee table to put them on. She could only presume Natsu didn't eat at home too often and if he did, it wasn't usually with this quantity of food.

Natsu pointed to the cabinet where he presumably kept his plates and Lucy huffed as she went to go retrieve some herself, noting that this was just another reason why this wasn't a date. A real gentleman would have gone and got them himself!

She opened up the cabinet and gently collected two plain-looking plates from where they were stacked before bringing them back to the pile of cartons. Natsu was already sticking his chopsticks into the fried noodles to give them a taste.

Lucy lightly frowned at him and his lack of table manners but he remained ignorant of whatever she was trying to demonstrate with mere facial expressions. She took a pair of chopsticks for herself, breaking them apart and then carefully began taking a small quantity from each of the generous selection of 'dishes' available onto her plate. She avoided the ribs – they would be too messy and she also avoided the dango and lotus buns as they were too sweet to eat with the savory choices.

Bizarrely, when she was done, Natsu looked at her wide-eyed with a mouthful of noodles before gulping it down and then grabbing the plate she prepared.

"Man, this was nice of you to do – thanks, Lucy!" He exclaimed, grinning at her devilishly.

Lucy looked at him, stunned. "What!? No, that's my food!" She yelled at him but Natsu merely grinned, grabbing the carton of ribs as well with his other hand and ran over to the couch with them.

Lucy grumbled to herself, tempted to go over and grab her plate right back off of him and risk making a mess but decided to not stoop to his level of childishness.

She took the second plate, repeating the same selection as before grabbing her bottle of cola from the fridge and going to sit down beside Natsu on the couch.

"You're unbelievable, you know that?" Lucy said to him as he sat with the plate on his lap, controller in hand as he hit play on the movie.

"You're being loud again, Lucy. C'mon, we're watching the movie now," Natsu playfully teased back and Lucy had to restrain herself from flicking an edamame bean in his direction.

Lucy frowned at him once more but saw an opportunity to get revenge once Natsu realized that the light was still on in the room, causing him to get up and put his stolen plate of food down to turn it off.

Lucy was quick about it, but she swapped several of her beans for some of his pork, knowing that it would probably annoy him.

The room went dark and as the movie opened up to a mountain scene that Lucy partially recognized from the previous movie, Natsu returning to sit down a few seconds later.

It only took a few seconds for Natsu to spot the change to 'his' plate and turned to face Lucy, "Oi! You stole some of the pork!"

"I don't know what you're talking about, Natsu," Lucy replied with feigned innocence and then to her own audacity, picked up a piece of the stolen pork with her chopsticks and popped it into her mouth right in front of him with a smile.

That was a mistake.

Natsu quickly responded by reaching over and stealing a dumpling right off her plate with his fingers and swallowing it all in one in a fit of playfulness.

Oh, she was tempted to keep going, she really was, but the movie's music took a dramatic turn, catching her attention instead and she decided to put this silly little game behind her. Natsu similarly did the same, more than happy to munch loudly on his food which meant Lucy had to ask him to turn the volume up but it overall, it made the movie more immersive.

They had only reached to about ten minutes in before Natsu had finished his plate and was greedily helping himself to the carton of sticky ribs with his fingers. Lucy only caught a glimpse of the bones of meats but she had to admit, the sauce that they came in looked pretty tasty. Unfortunately, the only way of giving it a try now was by licking it off Natsu's fingers and she certainly wasn't going to ask him that, causing her to blush at the thought.

At least an hour later and Natsu had to replenish his plate a few times and was soon washing it all down with his bottle of cola. Lucy was full after just one helping and decided that she would let her stomach settle before she would go to help herself to one of the sweeter treats available (if Natsu hadn't devoured them by that point). She also made herself cozy with the tartan blanket that Natsu had offered to her earlier and she could confidently say that it was thoroughly nice to have an evening like this.

As for the movie so far itself? Lucy loved the portray of Smeagol and thought it was very well done. The musical score was exceptional too, especially when the Riders of Rohan were on screen. Unlike last time, Natsu seemed much more engrossed which Lucy could only assume was because of the increased amount of combat scenes that were being presented to them.

Two hours in and Natsu went to go grab the bag of cinnamon popcorn, munching on a few handfuls before offering some to her to try. She shook her head but looked over to the kitchen counter instead, eyeing the dango in particular. Natsu surprisingly caught on to this, getting up and fetching her the whole carton that they arrived in, throwing in a lotus bun too whilst he was up.

To both her surprise and a little embarrassment, when Natsu sat back down, he looked her over once or twice before he grabbed the hem of her blanket, tugging a portion of it over himself.

' _He wants to share a blanket again?'_

The blanket was clearly smaller than the one at Strauss Games as Natsu was evidently not happy about how little he had managed to pull away from Lucy and her look of shock and annoyance had little effect on him.

That's when Natsu unexpectedly (in Lucy's eyes) just scooted over until his hips were touching hers and enough blanket was covering them both. There was blushing in Lucy's cheeks and sudden tensing in her body as Natsu obliviously continued to watch the movie, popcorn in hand.

' _This is so much closer than last time!'_

As if by some miracle, Natsu must have felt how tense Lucy had suddenly become and his eyes darted between her and the movie on the screen. Lucy was losing focus on the movie by Natsu's sudden decision to sit so close to her that she was even further surprised when he leaned over to whisper something.

"You've read the books, right? So ya don't need to worry about Helm's Deep 'cause you know what happens."

Lucy turned her face towards him to look at him incredulously.

' _He thinks I'm tense because of that!?'_

Choosing to just accept that Natsu was not in fact, making any sort of affectionate gesture and merely just wanted to share a blanket again, Lucy shook off any wandering problem thoughts to focus on the movie.

She settled after a few minutes, enjoying the tension and atmosphere the movie was building and in all honesty, she loved that Natsu was providing so much natural warmth as his apartment did feel a little bit cold. That wasn't surprising, October was right around the corner now.

More than content to nibble at her dango and eventually a lotus bun too, Lucy leeched Natsu's heat and thoroughly watched the battle of Helm's Deep take place which had her completely hooked to the screen.

By the time the movie was beginning to wrap up, Lucy was on the edge of her seat as Gollum plotted against the hobbits and then she was being presented with an ominous overview of Mordor. The credits rolled and Natsu, still not moving, turned to her.

"So what did ya think of that one?" He asked.

Lucy smiled back at him, "It was really good!"

"The third one has got lots of epic battles. It's gonna be so awesome when you see it!" Natsu stated as his eyes connected with hers.

Lucy wasn't sure what she was thinking as it felt as if minutes passed between them although neither of them said nothing, merely stared at each other without either one of them moving from where they sat.

Perhaps it was her sensibilities that snapped Lucy away but the sudden realization that it was probably getting late and that she needed to try and call a cab before all the party-goers and clubbers in town kept them all too preoccupied to collect her.

She reached over to where she placed her shoulder bag down, taking out her phone and to her horror, the time displayed indicated it was almost midnight.

"Uh, Natsu, I need to try and call a taxi before they're all booked up," she murmured as she began typing into her phone to search for a reputable taxi company in the area.

"Why would they be booked up?" Natsu asked, leaning over her to see what she was doing.

"Because it's Friday and people go out to party when the weekend begins," Lucy answered, doing her best to ignore how close he was as she found a number to dial.

"I can walk you home."

Lucy turned to him, pausing in what she was doing to shake her head at him, "No, that's alright. You've already walked all the way over to come and get me and back once already today."

To her surprise, Natsu sat back and folded his arms as if to disagree with her, "I don't mind. I can protect ya just fine."

Needing to be protected wasn't something Lucy had in mind, especially if her plan was to be comfortably sat in a taxi. The cost of it didn't even bother her for once if that was the price of staying safe. The thought of walking home back through the same streets even later in the night had her anxiety spiking to worrying levels.

"I'm not sure, Natsu," Lucy replied to him, turning away to avoid his staring.

She felt the couch adjust as Natsu stood up and Lucy barely had a moment to turn her head before he was standing in front of her, grabbing her hands and pulling her up in a way that told her that he intended to drag her home.

"Natsu!" Lucy shrieked at him as it began shockingly obvious that Natsu wasn't going to drag her but instead, he was shifting as if he meant to pick her up as if he was going to carry her home over his shoulder.

"It'll be fine, Lucy. Paying for a taxi is dumb when I can get you home myself," Natsu said nonchalantly as if this was perfectly acceptable normal behavior.

"Okay, okay!" Lucy cried out as she felt him reaching forward, grasping her arm, "we'll walk!" she conceded.

Natsu let go of her, smirking before turning to switch off the console and TV.

That absolutely did leave the room pitch black and Lucy heard the fumbling as Natsu made his way over to the light switch, flicking it on.

"Let's go then!" Natsu said without a care in the world as if he wasn't just about to walk through the dangerous side of Magnolia at midnight.

* * *

Together, they started walking the same route back, Natsu holding her hand tightly again which Lucy welcomed thoroughly at such a late hour. The only difference was that Natsu had decided to actually wear a sweatshirt for a change although he didn't remove his scarf.

Even the stars above couldn't offer any further comfort to Lucy as the skies were dark and clouded.

They passed the familiar, neon-lit shops with the added addition of several drunken men were now shambling and moaning in the streets as if they were something from a horror novel.

"One day, I'm gonna get a better place," Natsu idly said quietly. "I've always wanted a house in the woods."

Lucy turned to him, curious as to why he felt the need to say that. She could only conclude that he was trying to distract her.

Natsu continued talking although his eyes never stopped scanning the streets, no doubt looking out for danger, "It's gonna be big enough for me and a cat I think."

"A cat?" Lucy murmured back, wanting to know more. She noticed his use of language – he didn't mention anything about anyone else being involved in his idea of a home. Just him and a cat. No mention of a girlfriend, wife or family. Maybe she had him all wrong and he wasn't interested in women in that way at all. Perhaps Natsu was even asexual – it would explain a lot. She willfully ignored the weird ache she felt that accompanied that possible conclusion.

"Yeah. It won't be anything like this place," Natsu said earnestly. "But it's cheap here and I use the extra jewel to look for Igneel."

That made sense, Lucy thought. Natsu wasn't exactly going to be made of money. It made a nice change from all those spendthrift sons of her father's business associates. Natsu actually put his spare finances to a good cause at the cost of living a more comfortable life and, despite his opinions about his job, he was evidently a hard worker.

Without really thinking, Lucy squeezed Natsu's hand tightly for a moment, treasuring the fact that he really was a good person despite his occasional rudeness and unawareness of personal boundaries.

Natsu didn't appear to notice it as his pacing rapidly slowed, eventually coming to a standstill as his face contorted into a frown, his eyes becoming deeply focused on something ahead of them.

Lucy, quickly filling with worry, glanced away from him to whatever it was that he was staring at.

If she thought she was already squeezing Natsu's hand a little too hard, that was about to get worse as her earthy brown eyes settled on a dark masculine figure that had just turned into the street around ten meters away, his mop of dirty blond hair illuminated by the flickering street light nearby. The stranger stared back, surprised at first before a deceitful smile formed menacingly on his face that could only spell trouble for them.

"Natsu?" Lucy whispered, looking to her male companion for guidance.

A low snarl escaped Natsu as he tensed immensely, releasing Lucy's hand in the process and the next word escaping his lips filled with vitriol.

"Jackal."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah, yeah, it's a cliffhanger.
> 
> Okay, so by now you're probably thinking, 'otter... you've written almost 20 chapters and over 100k words and they are still both being oblivious as fuck! Where's the Nalu part of the story going?!'
> 
> Well, I say my dear readers, have patience! Within the next ten chapters planned are some events coming up that will help them to start to figure some things out… okay, maybe not on Natsu's end – he's gonna need a little bit longer. It'll be worth it in the end I hope! Seeing Natsu's POV is going to start becoming more frequent from now on too.
> 
> Also hoodie is sweatshirt in the 'Americanisms', right? I am writing my next fic in British English after this – I have to google this stuff way too often!
> 
> Next Chapter: Jackal, Loke and some misunderstandings


	18. The Jackalwere

**Two and a Half Years ago**

It was a warm summer's day when Natsu, in an outburst of frustration, was flinging his pencil across the grass nearby having grown more and more annoyed at the homework that was sitting in front of him.

He thought of homework as a very 'if you really have to do it' kind of activity – he saw it as work that his teachers told him to do which he usually ignored and if he really, _really_ did have to do it (usually by Erza's intervention), it was left until literally twenty minutes before class.

The questions he had to answer today were pissing him off to no end as they were all math. Sitting on one of the picnic tables outside on the school grounds was usually the spot he rushed it all at the last minute if the weather wasn't bad and sometimes he would have help from his friends.

Erza would normally be there to attempt to teach him how to do calculus just as she would try to help him fix his spelling. However, she had graduated already and his final year of school was becoming more of a struggle.

Natsu sat back, looking away from the equation he was supposed to have solved a few days ago and he couldn't help but think, _'Man, I wish I had a really smart friend who was good at this stuff.'_

Looking back at the paper, he decided to go with the best way he could think of to solve his little problem.

He whipped out his lighter and was soon holding the paper up in front of him, holding down the ignition button and hoping for the flame to catch onto the bottom corner and igniting the whole thing.

It was a great excuse – the good old 'fire ate my homework' excuse.

A breeze in the air made it very difficult for the fire to catch however and Natsu was half tempted to also throw the lighter across the grass as well, only restraining himself at the last second as he remembered what happened the last time when he did that in the music room a year ago.

"Natsu!"

Natsu turned to the direction of where his name was being called out, immediately recognizing it as Romeo's. That struck him as odd as this was a high school and Romeo wasn't old enough to attend yet meaning he must have run over from the school next door to theirs.

Discarding any thoughts of doing any sort of homework entirely, Natsu stood up immediately upon spotting Romeo running frantically towards him.

"Yo! What's up?" Natsu called out as Romeo slowed down to catch his breath. Call it instinct but Natsu suspected that whatever the kid was going to say wasn't going to be good.

"You've gotta come quick!" Romeo practically yelled as Natsu narrowed his eyes at the young boy, already starting to feel defensive over the kid's well being. "It's him again – he's bothering Wendy!"

That was enough for Natsu to coil his fists tightly, ready to punch the bastard that was messing with thirteen-year-old children. He didn't need to bother to ask Romeo where to go, he knew already.

He took off quickly, sprinting across the grass to where the fence was broken that served as the divider between the two schools, slipping under it with ease with Romeo keeping up just behind him.

Natsu was soon on the other school's grounds where the kids, still so naive and innocent, shouldn't have to put up with the shit that happens at his school.

It was easy to spot the problem – one of those Tartaros jerks was over by one of the benches not far from a fire exit and he was speaking down to Wendy who looked extremely uncomfortable about him being there.

As Natsu hurried over, it became clear to him that the jerk in question was Jackal _again._ He was one of Tartaros' newest young recruits and now the bastard walked around proudly with a tattoo of their stupid gang's logo on his upper chest with an open, exposed school shirt.

He wasn't surprised that Jackal had decided to take it upon himself to bother kids at this point as that idiot had already tried to recruit him once already with promises of money, fancy cars (yeah, no way was that ever was gonna work) and women.

That had been a weird month overall for Natsu as Jackal hadn't been the only Tartaros member in the high school to approach him with stupid promises. It was like they had all collectively decided to try and get him to join their dumb gang – not that any of it worked. When he thought about it further, he realized that was also the same month that Zeref was suddenly showing an interest in playing D&D with him too.

"Hey!" Natsu yelled out, catching both Jackal's and Wendy's attention immediately. "Leave her the hell alone!"

Jackal smirked, crossing his arms in an amused manner as Wendy scooted away from him further along the bench.

"What's wrong?" He tauntingly asked. "I was just seeing if this little girlie here was interested in a great opportunity!"

The cackle that proceeded to follow Jackal's words was mockingly annoying and it caused Natsu to scowl as Natsu readied his fists for Jackal's sudden unpredictability.

"I'm not interested…" Wendy spoke quietly. "Thank you for asking though."

"You don't have to be nice to this jerk, Wendy," Natsu stated.

"Ah c'mon now! Don't be like that!" Jackal loudly interjected. "It wasn't like I was gonna hurt her if she refused… much."

Hearing that alone was enough for Natsu to bound ahead with his fists raised, ready to pummel the bastard into the ground without a second's thought.

As if Jackal had already known that this was going to happen, he leapt to his feet and raised his own fists aggressively at Natsu.

Luckily, Wendy sensibly moved away, shouting something about calling for a teacher which would be both a good and bad thing. Natsu wasn't sure what he'd explain to Gramps after he had beaten Jackal down, hopefully in doing so would put him off from ever bothering the younger teenagers again although he doubted it.

His fist collided with Jackal's and as Natsu has expected, Jackal fell back harshly, unable to handle the force Natsu exerted and went falling into the bench behind him.

It wasn't enough to stop him as Jackal bounced back and Natsu barely had a moment to block his fist which smacked into his abdomen.

Natsu let out a loud grunt as pain circled up his torso but his adrenaline was pumping now and he used his leg to trip the Tartaros member. Natsu knew that for all of Jackal's talk, the guy lacked the strength and stamina to keep up with him and as they traded kicks and punches, it was obvious who the victor was going to be.

Their violent scuffle didn't last long before Wendy returned with one of the teachers from her school. It was only thanks to Wendy and Romeo's explanation of what happened that prevented Natsu from receiving any harsher punishment than detention for a couple of weeks.

As for Jackal himself – he was expelled after a thorough investigation by both schools. However, Natsu had always suspected that it wouldn't be the last he'd see of him.

* * *

**Present Day, just after midnight, Sunday, September 27th**

"I was wondering when I would run into you again," Jackal said, widely smiling and barking out a laugh. "And you've got a chick with you this time!"

Natsu clenched his fists tighter, stepping forward and holding a defensive position. Fighting Jackal was one thing – a piece of cake – but Lucy was also there and he'd assured her that he'd protect her. The way Jackal was looking at her was also unsettling and Natsu had a vague notion as to why.

"Natsu… who is that?" He heard Lucy cautiously ask from behind him.

"A stupid jerk from Tartaros," Natsu answered her in a low voice. "Stay back."

As soon as Jackal took a step forward in their direction, Natsu, without really thinking, protectively held his arm out to shield Lucy behind him. It didn't stop Jackal's approach and Natsu's eyes slyly looked around to get a good sense of the area, only leaving his approaching enemy for a second.

The street was long with a few alleys that broke from it, not that Natsu would feel comfortable telling Lucy to run down one if it came to that. The towering street lights would provide little cover although there was a chance that he could use them to his advantage should Jackal try something.

Jackal himself looked slightly different from a few years ago – he had clearly put on muscle and looked stronger than before.

"So!" Jackal called out, only a few meters away now. "Girlie!"

Natsu practically growled in response to Jackal's attempt at capturing Lucy's attention. "Don't respond to him, Lucy."

"Wasn't going to," Lucy affirmed with a level of conviction he hadn't expected from her. She had been so nervous about coming to this part of town at the beginning of the evening and Natsu, whilst he didn't regret his decision to bring her here, wasn't happy that this was gonna be how the night was ending.

"No? But you would fit right in with us around here!" Jackal proclaimed loudly, halting his movement and raising his arms to spin around on the spot briefly in a show of dominance and territory – like he owned the place. His eyes glossed over Lucy once again, "With a face and body likes yours, you would-"

"Will you shut up already?" Natsu demanded, taking a step forward and _really_ not appreciating the way he was talking to Lucy like that.

"Natsu… don't fight," he heard Lucy quietly ask. "Let's just leave and-"

"Leave? We've barely even talked!" Jackal barked before cackling afterwards and Natsu grimaced at the reminder of what an annoyance this jerk was.

Jackal turned his attention to Natsu with a facial expression that turned to something sinister.

"I can be a reasonable guy. How about you hand over the chick and I'll let you leave with your limbs still intact," Jackal said in a dark, grave voice.

"Man, you didn't beat me back then and there's no way you're beating me now," Natsu answered with a serious but cocky response.

"And I said you were gonna pay for what you did back then, Fireball!" Jackal shirked, baring his fists and charging forward in a flurry of anger.

Natsu was quick to counter the incoming punch, blocking it with his left arm and hearing a gasp from Lucy behind him.

"Lucy, get out of here!" He yelled, blocking Jackal's other punch by catching it with his other hand and stopping it with sheer force before it could land in his stomach.

Natsu gave a hard shove, forcing Jackal back and raising a fist of his own to aim for Jackal's jaw. The Tartaros member was quick to spot the attack and dodged out of the way as Natsu lunged forwards. Jackal, bared his teeth with an animalistic snarl before Natsu felt Jackal's fist harshly pound into his side.

It hurt, a lot more than it did years ago but by now Natsu's blood was pumping and the shriek of his name from Lucy nearby was all he needed to ignore it as he let his instincts take over, causing him to react by grabbing Jackal by the back of his shirt and brutally yanking him backwards.

Jackal stumbled backwards, barely keeping himself from hitting the ground and only catching himself at the last second. Natsu took advantage of Jackal's sudden disorientation by charging at him, mercilessly knocking him down with his right fist. Natsu was quick to glance back at Lucy, all thoughts of trying to keep her safe from harm were clearly on his mind. He'd told her he would make sure she was safe with him and he wasn't about to let Jackal ruin that.

Jackal crashed to the ground, before propping himself up slightly and supporting himself with his hands. To probably only Lucy's surprise, began his stupid cackle one again.

"The hell you laughing at?" Natsu grimly asked, taking a defensive pose once again.

"You. I had expected you to hit harder than that," Jackal sneered at him and proceeded to catch Natsu off guard by swinging his leg around, tripping him up.

Natsu felt himself fall, his hands narrowly landing on the part of the sidewalk that luckily wasn't littered with shattered pieces of broken glass bottles. He cursed himself for being so stupid as to let his guard down and getting too cocky at the thought that Jackal had already been beaten. He briefly caught the sound of rapid footsteps nearby but he also didn't have much time to react before he saw Jackal was now stood over him, fist raised and aimed straight for his head.

He refused to let Jackal beat him down like this and not in front of Lucy after he downright promised her. He needed to prove a point to Jackal too – that the idiot just can't win. Natsu braced himself and tried to roll only to find something entirely unexpected happen.

Lucy, like some kind of warrior goddess, was suddenly standing over him, her leg raised as she yelled out something fierce. The nervous and timid Lucy had high kicked Jackal before a punch could come his way and Natsu could only guess it must have been one hell of a kick as Jackal went crashing back to the ground again.

"The fuck?!" Jackal cried out, clutching his stomach. "Oh, you're gonna pay for that!"

Natsu was quick to respond to Jackal's incoming threat, jumping up and ignoring the pain in his side as he caught sight of Jackal leaping up towards Lucy with a clear intent to harm her.

He must have thrown the fastest punch he'd ever done, catching Jackal in his gut again and forcing him back down.

The Tartaros member groaned as he clutched his middle and Natsu readied his fist once again at any signs that Jackal would get back up. However, all thoughts of throwing any more punches were put on hold when he felt Lucy's delicate fingers and palm settle on top of his hand.

"Don't. I don't want us to get in trouble with the law," she quietly said to him.

Natsu was certainly tempted to continue but Lucy made a point. A fistfight in the murky streets of Magnolia was one thing to get involved in but he didn't like the sound being arrested for assault should any nasty injuries come out of this. Being thrown in a cell would be a crappy way of ending a pretty fun evening overall.

Jackal didn't try anything else and merely scampered away with a hand pressed firmly to where he had received a kick and a punch from the both of them. Natsu was hoping that it wasn't a ploy and that Jackal wasn't actually up to anything sinister or getting reinforcements.

If he was, it made all the reason to make sure Lucy got home safely even more urgent.

"C'mon," Natsu said, taking Lucy's hand back into his own with thinking about it and tugged her along briskly.

"We aren't even going to just talk about what just happened?!" Lucy said with a hint of anger about her.

"Not now, you need to get home," Natsu answered her and she didn't protest, most likely due to the sense of urgency in his voice.

They kept a fast pace as they made their way to Lucy's apartment. Natsu didn't find the pain in his side all that bad but that's how it always went – he would always feel it later once the adrenaline in his system had subsided.

He caught Lucy's grumbles of 'how that was the last time she would ever be stepping foot in that area again' – understandable but it did hurt a little to hear that. Natsu found that it was fun having Lucy over at his place and he had hoped that she might consider wanting to hang out more often. What worried him more however was whether this experience would make her want nothing more to do with him. The thought of Lucy not wanting to be around him any more – it hurt way more than any physical pain he had ever experienced.

And if she did want that… he would definitely be back to kick Jackal's ass.

Lucy was quick with her keys when they arrived back at hers and Natsu held his side where he was beginning to feel the impact of Jackal's punch. Once the door was open, he felt Lucy gently pull on his arm and he let her firmly lead him inside to the same comfortable armchair that he had sat on earlier that evening.

He wasn't going to complain – he was originally intending on just making sure she got home safe and then he'd head back to make sure Jackal hadn't been following them. That was unlikely as Jackal had a fearful look about him as he scampered away. Jackal probably hadn't expected Lucy to join in and neither had he – and despite not wanting her to get involved, he had to admit he was kind of proud of her for having such a strong kick.

He couldn't help but look directly at her, admiring the fighting spirit that Lucy had somewhere buried within herself and feeling torn of whether he'd ever want to see it again as he'd never wanted to see Lucy put in danger like that.

"Where'd you learn to kick like that?" He found himself asking.

"I'm not sure… I just had to do something," Lucy murmured back as she looked down over him.

Weirdly, she kneeled down next to him and started to have that embarrassed look again. She had been doing that all evening and Natsu couldn't for the life of him figure out why that was. He kind of wanted to know what was going on inside her head and he also kind of didn't as it would probably be too over-complicated too deal with.

"Natsu, uh, can you lift up your shirt so I can see if your side is okay?" She asked, looking away towards the floor and drumming her fingers lightly against her thighs.

Natsu complied although why she felt so shy about asking was a bit odd. He already knew there wasn't going to be any blood and he wasn't in enough pain for there to be any internal injuries. It just ached a lot and made moving around a little more painful. He pulled his sweatshirt off over his head, tossing it to the floor, wincing slightly as his side ached from the sudden stretching.

He lifted up the side of his t-shirt and Lucy's eyes briefly connected with his before she went about looking at the area where Jackal's punch had landed. At first she looked surprised as hell but then her face settled into a frown as she focused on the place just above his hips.

"It looks like it's going to be a nasty bruise," she said with confidence. "Let me get you some ice."

"I don't need that, Lucy, it's no big deal," Natsu replied, pulling his t-shirt back down. Maybe if he were Gray he'd want that but no, the thought of having ice pressed against him wasn't a pleasant thought. "I should head back out and see if the bastard followed us."

Lucy looked up at him from her crouched position and her frown deepened, "Don't you dare! I don't even want to think about what will happen if you run into him again!"

Natsu couldn't help but scoff, "I'll make sure I'll give him another reminder of what happens when he messes with me or my friends, that's what."

"No."

Natsu, frowning back now, didn't understand why she was so against it. Didn't Lucy think he could take him or something? He would have an easier time doing so if she wasn't there for him to worry about too. Hell, she kicked the guy _hard_ and if he figured out where she lived… Natsu didn't even want to think about what Jackal would do.

"Just stay here… on my sofa tonight?" Lucy suddenly said, her voice turning to more of a plea than demand now.

Natsu peered over at her sofa – it looked better than his own. It was a tempting offer and he hadn't stayed over at anyone's place in a while. Lucy's place could be interesting.

Still, he still didn't know if Jackal had run off with his tail between his legs or not for sure.

"I can take Jackal – it was just one punch," Natsu insisted but the look Lucy was giving him told him that she was pretty insistent that he stay right where he was. If she were anyone else and he meant quite literally _anyone_ , he would go ahead with his own plan.

Lucy, however, didn't look scared, at least not for herself. Heck, she looked like she was ready to kick Jackal again and aim for a more sensitive area this time. No, Lucy, in fact, looked scared for _him_ and that was well, really unusual. Nobody had ever been worried about him like that before and whilst he thought that was a bit dumb to do as he was confident in his own strength, he didn't want Lucy worrying like that.

"Please?" She tried again quietly.

Natsu's frown settled and he let out an uncomfortable sigh, "Okay."

"Thank you," Lucy said and he could practically hear her relief in those two words. "I'll go get you a pillow and blanket."

As Lucy left to the other room which he could only guess was her bedroom, Natsu contemplated leaving anyway before she could protest some more. But that would worry her more and he was quickly reminded of the prospect of Lucy cutting ties, the very thought putting a stop to any further thoughts about going.

He got up, wincing again at the bruise and carefully walking over to the main window that overlooked the street.

If he was going to stay here, there was a chance that he might be able to spot Jackal from where he was. After a minute or so, he spotted nothing suspicious and Lucy had returned to the main room, dropping a plain white pillow and duvet onto the sofa that looked new. Spares of hers maybe?

"Are you sure you don't want any ice?" She asked him again.

"Yeah."

An uncomfortable silence passed between them as Natsu gazed out of the window, scanning every dark spot he could see for movement.

"Natsu?"

"Hmm?" Natsu grunted back, his determination to ensure that Lucy was safe prevailing over all else at that moment.

"How did you know him?" She asked, sounding more curious than nervous now.

Natsu didn't reply immediately, unsure of how to explain each of his run-ins with Jackal in the past. From what little he recalled, knowing that his memory wasn't the best, Jackal had been a new student back in the day along with several others. No one really noticed him until all the Tartaros stuff started up.

"Natsu?" Lucy tried again and Natsu pulled himself from his thoughts of trying to remember to actually answer her.

"He joined Tartaros when we were still in school – he tried recruiting other students for them at first," Natsu explained, his eyes never leaving the window. "Then he decided to try and get even younger kids involved."

Lucy let out a small gasp and although he wasn't looking at her, he was sure she probably had covered her mouth in surprise.

"I used to babysit sometimes – usually when Erza was too busy to and one day, Jackal went after the kids I watched." Natsu continued.

"So you-"

"Yeah, I taught him to not pull that shit again."

Another silence passed between them and Natsu, finally satisfied that Jackal was not outside and hanging around the street, (although he wasn't confident that they hadn't been followed either) turned back to Lucy.

"Do you see him much now?" Lucy continued in her questioning.

"Nah. I told ya that Tartaros mostly leave me alone – that was the first time I've seen him in years," Natsu honestly replied.

"Shouldn't we call the police about what happened?"

Natsu snorted, "I doubt they would do anything, they don't like getting involved with Tartaros."

Natsu made his way over to the couch, sitting down and taking off his sneakers before adjusting the pillow and blanket Lucy had brought over.

"What are you doing?" Lucy asked him and Natsu wasn't sure if she was ever going to stop asking questions. What he was doing should have been fairly obvious to her though.

"Going to sleep?" Natsu answered as he laid himself out on the couch, annoyed that it was just a little too short for him as his feet slightly stuck out, before pulling the blanket over himself.

' _A_ _ctually…_ _i_ _t's not too bad.'_

"Oh," Lucy simply responded, a moment passing between them before she moved away. She didn't seem very happy about something and Natsu was about to ask before she spoke again, "I guess I should head to bed too then. I hope you don't mind while I wash up in the bathroom for a bit?"

"Nah," Natsu replied, already feeling sleepy. The blanket, although it seemed new, smelled kind of similar to Lucy and there was something about that scent that was making him feel sleepy and calm. Thoughts of Jackal were still there but he felt as though his whole body was relaxing, even on a too-small couch.

He didn't even register Lucy's movements as she went back and forth between the other room and the bathroom as sleep quickly took him altogether.

* * *

Natsu opened his eyes drearily, cringing a little as the harsh morning light smacked him directly in the face before he let out a loud yawn. He swore he caught a whiff of bacon for a moment but it passed quickly – or maybe he was still too sleepy to have all of his senses kick in yet.

He shifted slightly, wondering when his couch had become so comfortable to lie on. When he came to think of it, when had light hitting his eyes ever happened from the position he usually slept in?

Natsu began propping himself up on his elbows, flinching a little as he remembered the nasty bruise on his left side and the annoying amount of pain that accompanied it.

A quick glance around and Natsu quickly realized that this wasn't his apartment – it was Lucy's, not that he really had much of a good look of it yet so far, but it explained why he was sleeping more comfortably for a change.

The smell of bacon was caught in his nostrils again along with the sounds of sizzling and Natsu tolerated the pain in his side to twist and look in the direction of what he assumed was Lucy's kitchen.

Sure enough, his blonde companion was standing there beside her cooker, clad in an apron and frying pan in hand and that beautiful scent of crispy bacon was emanating from it too. He sorely hoped she was frying some for him.

A few seconds later, she reached over and picked up an egg, cracking it on the side of the pan and adding alongside the bacon. Bacon and eggs? He might just have to fight her for it if she wasn't going to share. Not real fighting of course; maybe she could be tickled into submission.

' _Now that would be funny to see!'_ Natsu couldn't help but think, smiling at the very idea.

In an effort to get up, Natsu inadvertently groaned when he felt the bruise again that Jackal had left him, causing Lucy to look over immediately.

"Natsu? You're finally awake?" She called out from across the room.

"Yeah," Natsu grunted back, hoisting himself up and rubbing his side uncomfortably.

' _Jackal's punches have gotten harder since I last saw him.'_

"Do you want breakfast? I thought you might like some bacon?" Lucy asked over the sizzling sounds, the very question she was asking was pure music to Natsu's ears.

"Hell yeah!" Natsu answered loudly as he stretched his shoulders lightly before wandering over to the kitchen. He stood right behind Lucy, peering down over her shoulder to see exactly what she was cooking as he swore he caught the scent of other things too.

There were some other things frying other than the bacon and eggs – mushrooms and tomatoes and Natsu licked his lips greedily in anticipation. It had been ages since he had a breakfast like this and he wasn't even the one attempting to make it either. Food made by someone else was the best.

Vague memories of playing that cooking video game with Lucy came to mind and he'd figured maybe he could help as the situation felt similar to that.

"Want me to do anythin'? Natsu asked whilst still peering over her shoulder at the pan in her hands.

To his surprise, Lucy jumped at hearing this, letting out a shriek and backing up into him so that her lower half smacked into his thighs and the top of her head slightly caught his chin, causing him to be knocked back a few paces slightly.

"What the heck, Natsu? Why were you standing right behind me like that?!" She practically yelled, spinning around and glaring at him with a pink hue in her cheeks again. At least she didn't accidentally hit him in his newly acquired fresh bruise.

"I wanted to see what you were cooking!" Natsu retorted loudly back.

"I said it was bacon!" Lucy protested.

"I know but I could smell other things and I'm really hungry now!" Natsu insisted, stepping forward again to get another good look at the pan.

"Just- Just go sit down, it'll be done soon," Lucy replied, more quietly and grumpily this time. Natsu made a mental note – Lucy gets moody in the mornings. Maybe she was one of those kinds of people that were like that until they had their coffee. Erza could also be like that.

Begrudgingly, he left the kitchen to go sit back down on Lucy's sofa. It wasn't so bad being kicked out of her kitchen as there would be a delicious breakfast for him any moment now, cooked by Lucy herself and he couldn't feel any more grateful to her.

It was rare that anyone made food just for him – except maybe those few times that Lisanna did on occasion. She was always kinda strange about it though and she would often bring up all the times that she had done it in general conversation.

' _Well, not much point on thinking about it. Lisanna's cooking would probably make someone happy one day.'_

As the sizzling continued in the background, his ears caught the sounds of a kettle whistling too – maybe Lucy was also making some tea or something. His eyes roamed the room briefly, looking for stuff of interest that he could go get a good look at to preoccupy himself with but other than her unfinished book, her apartment lacked… personal belongings.

He supposed that there was a bookshelf, packed with books and he caught the titles of some of them that stood out, recognizing them as fantasy mostly. He was correct about her being right for their D&D group… actually, more than right, she was more like a missing puzzle piece that fit perfectly.

He was tempted to see if Lucy wanted to hang out some more until D&D later. They could mess around in town or play some games in the store basement or even go to the park. The more he thought about, the more he concluded that just about anything would probably be fun to go and do with her.

Then it occurred to him that all his D&D stuff was still back his apartment. He'd have to go get that and probably make sure that Jackal hadn't done anything stupid like figure out which apartment he lived in.

Natsu then heard footsteps from the kitchen and eagerly looked over, his face brightening as Lucy came walking towards him with a plate of fried wonders and some cutlery. He wasn't sure if she was still grumpy at him but he didn't really care right now as she practically looked like some kind of goddess of food bringing a plate of something delicious to a starving man.

Lucy placed the plate down in front of him on her coffee table along with a knife and fork before leaving to go back to the kitchen. Something about that didn't feel right to Natsu. He felt like he was being waited on and when Lucy quickly reappeared before he could dig in, he spotted she was only carrying a teapot and two cups.

' _Where's her food?'_

"I hope you like it, I don't usually fry things very often. I'm still sort of learning it all…" Lucy said meekly as if she were embarrassed about what she had just put in front of him.

Natsu grabbed a piece of bacon immediately with his hands, shoving it into his mouth all-in-one before mumbling, "this is great!"

Lucy looked at him with wide eyes and he guessed that he made his point. Her food was good and he wasn't lying about that either. The bacon tasted amazing.

Gulping the rest of it down, he watched as Lucy poured herself some tea and he just had to ask, "Why aren't you eating anything?"

Lucy offered him a small smile before blowing lightly on the surface of the hot tea in her cup that was in her hands, "I already ate," she replied.

"Huh, when?" Natsu asked, confused and feeling a little disappointed that she'd eaten without him.

"I got up a couple of hours ago because a certain someone kept snoring so loudly that I could hear them from my bedroom," Lucy said without a beat, taking a sip.

Natsu couldn't help but look at her hopelessly and utterly confused now.

"Who kept snoring? Is someone else here?" He asked, looking around the room and feeling a protective urge overtake him for a moment. After last night's run-in with Jackal, he felt a little on edge and the thought that maybe Jackal might have actually followed them back to Lucy's place crossed his mind.

"No, it was you, dummy!" Lucy said, lightly slapping his arm and breaking him from possible thoughts of an intruder being nearby. He glossed his eyes over Lucy, noting that she didn't look very tired – there were no bags under her eyes, she looked like she had plenty of energy in her and she hadn't even put perfume on yet leaving her to smell fairly comforting to be around as well as very 'Lucy-like'.

"Sorry," Natsu mumbled to her as he decided to just tuck into the food properly before it got too cold, greedily wolfing down everything. Lucy seemed to be shaking her head disapprovingly at him and in response, he shrugged at her with his mouth half-full.

"What?" He asked as he chewed on another slice of bacon. "It's good food, Lucy, I'm gonna come over more often."

"I'm not your personal chef!" Lucy pouted, placing her hands on her hips. Natsu cheekily grinned back at her, he couldn't help but love sparking a reaction out of her like this. It was weird and felt appealing to him for some reason. He was definitely going to come to visit her more often – everything about her place resonated well with him.

It felt like _home_ in a weird way. His own place felt more like a base of operations but Lucy's place felt warm, cozy and the wood-burning stove in the corner of the room was something he was looking forward to lighting at some point.

Then again, he also had those feelings for the first time when Lucy was in his place too. Maybe it was just Lucy that had that effect on being in places – like it was her superpower or something.

With his kindly-made breakfast finished, Natsu reluctantly admitted to himself that he would have to head back to his place. He could hang out with Lucy another time. She might even have things she wanted to do herself today.

"I tried calling the police this morning to tell them about what happened," Lucy suddenly admitted. "They said they would 'look into it'."

Natsu could tell by Lucy's tone that she didn't believe that. She was right to – as he said the night before, they wouldn't bother with Tartaros.

As he looked around for his discarded sweatshirt, his eyes caught sight of something else instead and he wasn't sure why he hadn't noticed it already. Hanging over Lucy's desk was a drawing of her character, framed and proudly on display. It looked like it was drawn in Juvia's style, she had given him a similar drawing but it had only ended up in his desk drawer back at his place.

Not only that but the miniature he had given her sat on the shelf over her desk next to a small stack of pink dice. He couldn't resist going over to look at them both despite having seen it before.

"Natsu?" Lucy asked but he didn't really register her saying anything.

To both his surprise and approval, Lucy's desk had gained several paper printouts since last night – all D&D related. Information about spells, the monsters that they had faced together, stuff about her druid… she must have been studying this stuff whilst he was sleeping. Her manuscript or something like that, which he had picked up last night in his curiosity to know how it had been coming along, was absent like she had deliberately gone and hidden it from him.

Never mind that though; Lucy… really took D&D seriously.

Knowing that she must really care a lot about their D&D adventure… had firmly changed his decision entirely for him. He'd swing back by his place later – he wanted to hang out with Lucy some more there and then.

He spun on his heel, facing her, well aware that she had been slowly approaching him.

"Lucy! Let's hang out today!" Natsu declared openly.

"Huh?" She questioned. "But we've been around each other since yesterday evening… don't you want a break?"

Lucy seemed nervous about asking such a daft question. Why the heck would he need a break from her?

"Not really. Let's go over to the store and play some games!" Natsu responded with enthusiasm.

"But your D&D-"

"I'll grab those later before we play."

Lucy stood there, perfectly still for a few seconds before she shuffled a little on the spot and then a small smile graced her face – Natsu could tell she was up for it.

"Alright!" she answered happily. "But I need to go have a quick shower first, I won't be long."

Lucy hopped off back to her bedroom with a spring her step and Natsu could suddenly understand where Metal Head's 'bunny girl' comments came from. For a second, he thought that maybe Lucy was going to go get butt naked before coming back out to go in the bathroom but realized that would be too weird, even for her. Plus, seeing Lucy naked would be… wrong… wouldn't it?

Not wanting to dwell on strangely tempting but inappropriate thoughts of his friend, he sat back down in the armchair again – having already decided that it was his favorite piece of Lucy's furniture so far and decided to just browse on his cellphone until Lucy was done. He briefly caught sight of her again, fully clothed, returning with presumably a fresh towel in her arms before she slipped into the bathroom.

A single message from Gray was waiting for him on his phone when he unlocked it,

 **Gray:** _Oi f_ _ire cro_ _t_ _ch, how serious were you about multiclassing?_

Natsu took a moment to remember what Ice Dick was talking about before it occurred to him he had given some thought to his character's build some weeks ago.

 **N** **atsu:** _Yeah I wanted 2 not b so easy to kill_

 **Gray:** _So what were you thinking?_

 **Natsu:** _Somethin like Erza? or monk maybe_

 **Gray:** _You sure about that? You know that means you could miss out on some good draconic skills from your sorcerer build_

That problem hadn't even occurred to Natsu. At the time, he just saw how many hit points his character had and just wanted to be able to take more then a hit or two.

 **Natsu:** _what wil i miss?_

 **Gray:** _I thought you had_ _already_ _read up on this stuff…_

 **Gray:** _give me a minute_

Frustrated, Natsu put his phone down. He wanted his character to be strong but he didn't want to give up any cool dragon stuff to be strong either. His character already had patches of red dragon scales on his body. He wanted to play as the strongest mage there was who wanted to protect his friends and taking the dragon ancestry stuff seemed like the obvious choice. Nothing was stronger than a dragon.

Natsu heard the shower come on in the other room; hopefully, Lucy wouldn't take too long getting ready. He kind of wanted to use the bathroom himself and briefly wondered if Lucy would mind if he asked to borrow her toothbrush so he could brush his teeth.

'… _She probably would.'_

His phone buzzed after what felt like forever and he went to grab it.

 **Gray:** _level 6 – you do more fire damage with fire spells_

That alone was enough for Natsu to scrap any ideas of multiclassing anytime soon entirely. If Gray was planning on leveling them all soon, he would reach level 5 and having that extra fire damage would be that much closer.

 **Gray:** _level 14 – you get dragon wings_

Natsu smiled at that – how cool would that be? He remembered first reading up on that and thinking it sounded awesome back then and it still does now. Maybe he could volunteer to fly Lucy's character somewhere fun when he finally got them, she would be up for it for sure.

 **Gray:** _level 18 – you get_ _to_ _charm_ _or_ _fear shit with your dragon 'aura'_

That sounded funny, everyone fearing him because of his dragon heritage… or loving it apparently. But what kind of person would feel charmed by a dragon?

He caught the sound of a small bang from the bathroom, most likely the sound of Lucy dropping something in the shower.

But Gray made a good point – if he were to ever get to that level, his character wouldn't be able to learn that stuff if he spent some of his levels in another class.

' _Dragon all the way it is!'_

 **Natsu:** _ok I want that. no multiclass_

It only took a second for Gray to respond.

 **Gray:** _yeah, thought so, dumbass._

Natsu sent him a few insulting emojis back. He was thinking about asking him some things to do with the campaign. However, the sudden banging on Lucy's front door captured his attention instead.

He felt himself instinctively on the alert, his thoughts turning to Jackal and whether or not the annoying bastard had dared to come to Lucy's place if he had, in fact, discovered where she lived. Then it occurred to him that Jackal probably wouldn't knock – that wasn't his style.

He figured he'd go answer it as it was probably someone who knew Lucy at the very least.

As a second knocked sounded, Natsu undid the latch and swung the door open towards him, the visitor on the other side looking very a taken back by this. Natsu recognized him _vaguely_ – it was Lucy's friend from weeks ago, the one who she came with her to the D&D game with the crowd.

"… Hello?" The man asked, appearing to be very confused and peering into the apartment, probably looking for Lucy.

"Yo!" Natsu greeted him with. "Lucy's in the shower, let me go get her for ya."

Lucy's friend looked baffled by him saying that but Natsu didn't want to wait around for the guy to work out his simple explanation as to where Lucy was. What did he want anyway? Lucy hadn't said anything about one of her friends coming to hang out with them too.

Natsu banged on the door to the bathroom, yelling out to Lucy, "Lucy, one of your friends is here!"

"It's Loke," the man said, adjusting his tie and glasses and Natsu noticed that the strange, bemused look on his face never left.

He could hear the shower promptly shut off.

"What?" Lucy called out.

"Your friend is here! Says his name is Loke!" Natsu repeated, wondering why Lucy felt the need to ask when he thought he had made himself pretty clear the first time. Maybe the door was thicker than he thought. "Can you hear me alright? I'll come in so you can hear me better."

Loke let out a spluttering cough as Natsu distinctly heard Lucy start screeching about how that 'under no uncertain terms should he ever walk in on her in the bathroom'.

' _She heard me fine just then.'_

Natsu shrugged and went to go sit back down, unsure of what to do now.

Lucy's friend stood there and seemed to be looking between him, the bathroom door and then finally the room, paying special attention to the crumpled blanket and pillow on the sofa.

' _What does he want?'_

"So… you're Natsu, correct?" Loke finally asked him in a way that seemed… strange. Everything revolving around Lucy was weird and strange including her friends – what was up with that?

"Yeah," Natsu plainly answered.

A moment later, the bathroom door burst open, catching both of their attention over to Lucy standing there with a towel wrapped around herself and dripping wet hair.

"Loke!" Lucy near yelled, looking absolutely shocked.

"So… you and Natsu, huh?" Loke replied, smiling fondly at her although Natsu could tell the guy was faking it. He looked annoyed.

"What about us?" Natsu asked from his seat in the armchair.

"It's not like that!" Lucy insisted whilst desperately clinging onto the towel as if it were about to fall down any moment. "Look, I- never mind, both of you, look away, this towel is too small!"

Natsu shrugged but obliged although Loke snickered a little before turning away himself. His sensitive ears caught the sounds of Lucy stomping around rapidly before hearing her go into her bedroom.

Natsu couldn't help but think how this was turning out to be the strangest morning he'd had in ages. Hopefully, everything would make sense soon and he could go hang out with Lucy as planned.

Lucy's friend, 'Loke' though – he seemed alright but honestly, Natsu didn't like the idea of him hanging out with them too.

' _At least D &D later will be fun.'_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I mentioned it in my tumblr blog thingy a little while ago but some of the chapters so far do contain some very subtle foreshadowing AND some red herrings. 
> 
> There are a few things that I struggle with writing that I've discovered in this fic – capturing emotions and fight scenes. I know that fight scenes are supposed to be difficult to write so I gave it an attempt? I hope I've managed to convey the first section of this chapter decently enough.
> 
> Next Chapter: Lucy catches up with Cana and the group prepare to fight a dragon
> 
> D&D Terms:  
> Jackalwere: A jackal that can take the form of a human. They have a hybrid form which is a combination of the two. A type of shapechanger.
> 
> A Further Explanation about 'Multiclassing':  
> The max level a character in D&D can be is level 20. You can be a sorcerer level 20 for example or you could be a character with 10 levels in wizard and 10 levels in bard which makes a combined total of 20.  
> Taking a second class for your character has its advantages but you might lose out on certain 'perks' from being unable to reach higher levels as Gray pointed out to Natsu in this chapter.


	19. Dragons and Distractions

**Saturday, S** **eptember** **2** **6** **th**

Magnolia Park wasn't a place that Lucy frequented very often, even during her morning jogs, but until now, she had never realized how beautiful it could be during late September. The leaves of both the oak and cherry blossom trees had turned to stunning shades of sunshine yellow and vibrant orange.

Whereas Crocus was renowned for its wonderful flower displays that lined the streets and the historic palace, Magnolia, by comparison, could really be appreciated for some of the natural scenery that could be found all over despite some of its more urban development.

That morning, Lucy had arrived with little knowledge of what to expect other than what had been said in the extremely short text exchange that she had earlier. As she walked, she took another glimpse at the conversation on her phone and how unwittingly, its sender, Cana, had also served as her savior from the increasingly awkward tension that had been spinning increasingly out of control in her apartment that morning.

 **Cana:** Lucy I really need to talk to you

 **Lucy:** Is everything okay?

 **Cana:** Can you meet me in the park asap?

 **Lucy:** Okay?

 **Cana:** I really need to talk to someone right now

 **Lucy:** I will be there as soon as I can.

This conversation had taken place as she had been getting changed in her bedroom as her two male friends who were hanging around in her living room exchanged murmurs of discussion. Lucy hoped that in the very least, the two were getting along and that Natsu had stopped unintentionally giving Loke the wrong ideas about them.

Once she was changed, her damp hair tied back loosely into a ponytail after a quick ruffle in the towel had been flimsily wrapped around her, Lucy prepared to let both men down regarding any intentions they might have had to spend time with her that day. She was honestly flattered to have so many people want her attention all at once that morning but a friend in need always came first.

She made her apologies to the both of them and explained that Cana was having some sort of crisis.

Loke was understanding and, as expected, he told her that he would chat to her later, saying something along the lines of 'we'll talk soon, Princess' before leaving. Lucy still didn't know why he had chosen to make the impromptu visit to her place but she would be sure to ask him about it later.

Natsu, on the other hand, looked somewhat irked by the situation although Lucy had a feeling it wasn't because she had to go out all of a sudden – especially when he volunteered to join her once she mentioned she was going to meet Cana in the park. She went on to explain that this seemed important and Cana was unlikely to appreciate him turning up too.

Natsu shrugged indifferently and so she told him that would meet him at D&D later causing his face to brighten at the reminder.

So here Lucy was, making her way along the gravel paths that trailed alongside a brook, enjoying the scenery and trying to not think about the events of the night before. She found it was difficult not to and Lucy found herself extra wary today, keeping an eye out for a man with a sneering smile, dirty blond hair and a sinister laugh.

She had so many more questions pertaining to Tartaros and was burning to ask Natsu more about it. Lucy had been so happy and relaxed during their evening of takeaway food, a warm blanket and a very enjoyable movie. Unfortunately, the journey home had not been enjoyable in the slightest.

She had trusted Natsu when he said he would keep her safe and to his credit, he did. She had just been starting to think that all this talk of Tartaros was over-exaggerated until Jackal had shown up. She wasn't sure of how to envision what a gang member might look like but to see it was someone around her age, maybe a little older, was not what she had expected at all.

The ensuing fight had left her feeling like a burden despite how quick it all was and in her desperation to help Natsu, she found herself just 'reacting' instead of thinking and as a result, she actually _kicked_ a gang member. She didn't even know where it had come from – she had never kicked anyone before in her life!

Natsu saw her home safely and to her shock, he just settled in just fine for the night once she had to practically beg him not to leave. Honestly, she didn't want to know what might have happened if he did and found Jackal again. But then he was able to just fall asleep so easily as if they both hadn't been involved in an _actual_ physical fight!

In comparison to his lack of concern about what went down, she was at a complete loss at what to do. Natsu had punched and she had kicked a member of a notorious gang and now she wasn't sure what was going to much of those articles that she had read prior to all of this were actually true? Was she on their hit list now? Would Natsu be okay? He actually _lived_ in that area after all!

She broke away from her thoughts when she spotted Cana sitting on a bench that overlooked a prettier section of the brook – where swans swam and an old willow's branches traced the tops of the water.

Lucy said nothing as she approached. She stepped across the dewy grass and took a seat next to the brunette who looked deep in thought. Lucy figured it would be better to not barrage her with questions and let her speak when she was ready to.

After several moments, the brunette lifted her hand to reveal she had been holding her silver flask and she took a gulp of its contents.

When Cana continued to say nothing, Lucy couldn't help herself. "Cana, has something happened?"

Cana didn't immediately respond at first and merely shook her head for a second as if she were battling with her inner thoughts before facing Lucy. "I've decided to find out who my birth father is."

Lucy wasn't sure how to respond to her. She had known a little about the brunette's life – that she had been raised by a hard-working single mother and Cana had always said that she never cared to find out who her father was. Her changing her mind about it now was very sudden and unprompted – Lucy couldn't help but silently ask if she been so out of touch with her that she hadn't realized that it was something that Cana had been thinking about doing?

"Why?" Lucy finally and quietly asked her.

Cana paused for a minute before answering.

"Truthfully, it's always bothered me and my mom's always hinted to who he was," Cana said, her voice heavy and pained. "When I went to your D&D night, I was reminded of that."

Lucy was perplexed as to how D&D could be related to Cana's father and it had her mind racing with more questions – that was until the guilt hit her anyway. She was the one who invited Cana there and as a result, she had inadvertently brought up something that Cana had perhaps long stopped caring about.

"What do you mean, Cana?" Lucy had to ask, needing an explanation. "Was it something that happened during the session?"

Cana paused, taking another swig from her flask and personally, Lucy thought Cana should probably stop drinking when she was feeling emotionally vulnerable.

"I said I knew who you were playing D&D with…" Cana began to say awkwardly. "… That's sorta half-true anyway."

That little tidbit of information had entirely slipped Lucy's mind. So much had happened since then and Lucy internally cursed herself for forgetting to ask. If it was related to Cana's feelings towards her unknown father – perhaps she could have been there for her sooner.

"Those guys… they used to play that roleplaying game in the geography room at school. I saw them but never said anything," Cana continued, almost sounding regretful about that fact. "But the truth is that I just wanted to go in the room."

"You wanted to go… in the room?" Lucy echoed, bewildered by Cana's odd explanation.

"Yeah, because my mom always hinted that the geography teacher might be my dad."

Lucy nodded to herself as things suddenly made sense before feeling bad for her friend. How many times had Cana approached that room only to recognize the players so easily years later? From the way Cana spoke, it sounded like she had never managed approached that teacher. What Lucy did know was that one thing mattered above all else – Cana needed her support.

"Cana – I'm sorry," Lucy began. "I didn't know D&D would bring up those memories for you but I promise on my word as a Heartfilia that I'm here for you now."

Cana offered a meager smile, "Thanks but like I said, it's something that's always bothered me – it's not really your fault so you don't have to say sorry."

"Then can I ask why you've decided to find out now about your dad?" Lucy inquired.

"When I was watching you guys play, I got kinda bored if I'm honest and couldn't help but think about it some more – it's been bothering me ever since," Cana explained, sounding almost indifferent than pained now. Lucy wasn't even sure why Cana looked so… well, torn about it. Surely finding out who your father is can only be a good thing? And if he could potentially be a teacher – he must be a good person, right?

"So… if he's a teacher… did he ever teach you?" Lucy asked curiously.

Cana snorted before grinning, "Nope. I wasn't in his classes."

"Oh," was all that Lucy could respond with.

' _It explains why she didn't just ask_ _to see_ _him after a lesson then.'_

"I don't know for sure that he's my dad – but I did some research on him last night. Turns out he sleeps around – a lot," Cana said, the previous sadness and pain returning to her voice. "So who knows how many half-brothers and sisters I might have out there if that's true."

Personally, Lucy didn't see the appeal of men who were like that. What was so wrong about finding just one person that you could love and trust wholeheartedly and just be happy with that? It was the main reason why Loke's flirtatious behavior towards women had always irked her a little – although she didn't really want to judge his choice of lifestyle too much.

"Are you sure you want to know if he is your dad? Just know that I'm behind you with whatever choice you decide to make," Lucy quickly responded with, reaching out and placing her arm around Cana to pull her into side-hug.

"Thanks, Lucy," Cana whispered. "I want to know – I'm gonna ask him, maybe even try and get a DNA sample if I can."

Lucy smiled, closing her eyes and squeezing Cana's arm just a little more, "Then I'll be here for you when you get the results if you want me to."

Lucy chatted to Cana a little longer – mostly about other things that were not related to potential fathers. It had been a while since they had really talked and whilst Lucy avoided talking about her evening as well as Natsu and Loke, she was more than happy to listen to Cana speak about her job and life in general in the chilly but pretty autumnal setting.

* * *

By the time Lucy had made it to D&D that afternoon, she was tired – more tired than she had been planning and hoping to be. Coffee hadn't helped and she had no idea how much sleep she was missing out on. She knew it was far from enough after a night of tossing and turning as a torrent of anxious emotions was coursing through her.

She wearily looked across the table as Gray was talking about something to do with the fighter class with Erza. Juvia on the other hand was gushing to no one in particular about her new miniature – no longer a fish but an unusual-looking sea-green humanoid with fins for ears.

The game was due to start soon and Lucy really was hoping she would be able to focus properly for it. However, her mind kept returning to thinking about the night before, making it extremely difficult so far.

She glanced over at Natsu from her sluggish position at the table – he looked as if he didn't have a care in the world.

'… _How? How was that possible after what had happened?'_

Putting her thoughts about Tartaros and Jackal aside – she wondered just what was going on in that man's head? He was invading her personal space, he fought a gang member, he was about to walk in on her _naked_ yet he seemed so… so… innocent about well, everything! She quietly groaned as she asked herself why Levy had to put those stupid thoughts in her head about him and her having chemistry and all that dating nonsense?

"Earthland to Lucy?"

Lucy looked over to Erza who was calling her name with concern etched across her face.

"Are you okay?" The redhead asked. "We're about to start."

"Oh," Lucy quietly replied. "Yeah, I'm fine."

' _That was a white lie at the very least, Lucy Heartfilia and you know it.'_

For whatever reason, Erza had not chosen to bring up the topic of her and Natsu hanging out on the night before and Lucy felt incredibly grateful for that.

Gray, satisfied with her response, proceeded to begin recapping the previous session, "Okay, so last time you guys were in the Dwarven town and were gathering supplies-"

"Just a minute!" Called the cheery voice of Mira who hurried over to the table, a wicker basket in hand. Lucy could have guessed as to why the shop owner had interrupted Gray's recap going by Natsu's reaction as he practically clambered out of his chair to what she had brought over to them.

The scent of freshly baked buns was the first thing noticed as Lucy peered into the basket, noting the distinct chocolate chips that poked out on the buns' surfaces.

' _Some chocolate would be absolutely amazing right now.'_

"I want you all to give these a try before I decide whether to sell them here next week!" Mira chirped and Natsu was very quick about grabbing, not one, but two buns for himself. Mira didn't seem to mind and everyone including Lucy took a bun each.

"Dese are amahzing Mirah!" Natsu said whilst still chewing on them. It seemed as though he had momentarily forgotten about his tray beside him which was laden with snacks, favoring the baked freshness instead.

"Actually, Lisanna made these!" Mira was quick to correct him but that didn't dissuade Natsu from eating away at them hungrily. "So even though she's not here today, remember to tell her that!"

Lucy took small bites but savored each chocolaty bite and briefly wondered how she could ever compete with that.

' _Wait, why_ _would_ _I need to compete with Lisanna?'_

Lucy was quick about dismissing that thought as just being tired and not thinking clearly.

"Lisanna is amazing at baking! Juvia highly approves!" Juvia called out across the table. "Maybe Juvia could have the recipe to make Gray some wonderful buns!"

"No can do," Mira politely answered. "These are from a secret Strauss family recipe!"

Juvia let out for a wistful sigh. Gajeel meanwhile, grunted an approval before offering an opinion. "They're pretty good."

Mira smiled widely before walking over to Gray. "I also wanted to tell you there's a new sound system installed in the store now." She pointed to the ceiling in the corner of the room and Lucy was quick to spot a speaker that she had noticed before now.

"Oh, wow. That's really great to hear," Gray answered with a grin. "It's gonna be good to finally be able to play music again during the sessions."

"I'll explain to you how it works," Mira said and the two went about talking for a little bit, Erza paying careful attention to what they were saying as Juvia eyed Mira suspiciously.

Lucy felt her left elbow nudged as she leaned against the table which drew her attention to Natsu who was also looking at her with a stern expression.

"Are you sure you're okay?" He asked quietly.

When she had arrived at the store, Natsu was already there as expected and looked pleased to see her despite not being able to hang out that morning. Since then, everything had felt strangely normal and Lucy had wondered why that would feel strange – had she been expecting things to be different?

Then there was the urge to talk to him about the night before and Lucy regretted that she hadn't taken the opportunity to do so that morning to ask about Tartaros. Unfortunately, she was not about to disrupt everyone's weekly D&D game to do so now. Perhaps if Natsu didn't seem concerned about it, she should try to adopt the same mentality.

"Yeah, I'm just tired," Lucy answered, not liking the fact that she wasn't able to voice in that moment how she was feeling but it seemed to mollify Natsu's almost instinctive-like worry.

"Natsu," Mira called from where she stood next to Gray, her expression suddenly filled with warning and distrust.

"… Yeah?" Natsu responded, unsure about Mira's sudden change in attitude.

"I'll say this once. Do not. Break it. Again."

She offered a deceptively sweet smile before walking back to the store's register with her now empty basket in hand. Her smile was anything but nice – evidently having to spend money on something that Natsu broke was not something she was happy about in the slightest.

Natsu said nothing and shrugged, "Hey, Frost Face, can we play now?"

"Yeah, yeah, let's get started," Gray answered.

Lucy nodded in silent agreement.

' _Time to focus and get my head in the game.'_

* * *

Gray was able to find some music on YouTube that he could link up to Mira's new sound system although Lucy wasn't sure how he was able to do it. She liked to think of herself as competent with technology but not a whiz with it or anything.

At first, it was merely atmospheric background noises that played as the group traversed through the old Dwarven tunnels – battling a handful of goblins easily before getting closer to escaping the underground terrain.

It wasn't long before Gray stopped the music for a not even half a minute before playing a new instrumental track – something that made Lucy think of deserts and sandy cities due to the composition that consisted of a oud, sitar and drums. Gajeel seemed to highly approve of the choice in music as he bobbed his head along with it.

Gray then rolled a dice and informed everyone that Gajeel would be playing the role of Happy today much to Natsu's disagreement. Initially, Gajeel didn't look too pleased about it but when he saw how irate Natsu was getting about it, a coy grin appeared on his face.

Once everyone was settled, Gray grinned for a moment before launching himself fully into his dungeon master role, "You all leave the tunnels behind you to go towards the bright light of the sun outside and find yourselves in dry, dusty plains. What will you all do?"

"Perception check. I want to check my surroundings for any sign of danger," Erza informed him.

Natsu was quick to weigh in on this, "If she sees anything bad, can we go fight it? I wanna get to level six!"

"Breaking character much, you two?" Gajeel mockingly asked them with crossed arms as usual from across the table.

"I wanna do more fire damage!" Natsu replied looking very eager at that prospect. Lucy grinned for a moment from hearing his enthusiasm but had nothing to add to the conversation. Despite trying to focus, her thoughts were still a mess.

' _Tartaros. Jackal. Loke. Cana. Natsu. So much- too much to think about.'_

"Juvia thinks this place is too dry for her and wants to find water," Juvia spoke up boldly to which Erza nodded in agreement.

"Alright, Erza, roll for looking for danger. Juvia, you can roll to look for water," Gray said.

"What about me?!" Natsu called out to the dungeon master.

"Ugh, I dunno, what do you wanna check for?" Gray replied to him.

Natsu sat back, lost in thought for a moment before he seemed to come up with an idea. "I wanna check to see if we can see that dragon anywhere! Maybe it's flyin' around!"

"Fine… roll as well then. Anyone else?" Gray answered in a way that suggested that no matter what Natsu rolled, he wasn't going to find a dragon _that_ easily. Natsu seemed completely oblivious to that fact, however.

"Can I tell Happy to help me look?" Natsu then added on enthusiastically, holding up the tressym miniature.

"Sure," Gray answered with indifference.

"I can do a survival check or something to find some firewood to set up a camp," Gajeel offered to the group and Erza responded with a thumbs up.

"Lucy?" Gray asked but she didn't hear him. Her mind was somewhere else entirely in that moment. It was only when Gajeel leaned over and prodded her arm that she realized her name was being called.

"Oh, uh, sorry," she mumbled. "What am I rolling?"

"I was asking what you were going to do," Gray said, looking a little worried for the blonde.

"Oh, I will…" Lucy quickly racked her brain for something easy to do; she had realized that she had completely zoned out and hadn't listened to the last few minutes of conversation. Her eyes caught Natsu's – he was undoubtedly trying to discern what was up with her. "I'll do what Salamander's doing."

Natsu grinned back at her. "Great, we can look for the dragon together and we'll find it in no time!"

' _He wants to look for the dragon?_ _Now_ _?'_

"Okay, Lucy, roll a perception check to stare up at the sky with Flame Brain here and see if you can spot a dragon," Gray told her, already rolling his own dice.

She sorely hoped they wouldn't find it at that very moment. Natsu would probably try and loudly call it down – then it would probably incinerate them where they stood.

She rolled a 9 and Natsu a 5. Definitely not great rolls in the slightest.

Gray was quick about responding to their rolls. "Neither of you can see a dragon. Salamander looks at some clouds. Happy flies around and almost hits a cactus. Luna spots an eagle."

"That sucks," Natsu replied. "Can I try again?"

"No."

Gajeel, in a bout of impatience, sat forward and rolled, "I'm rollin' for finding some firewood already."

In the end, Juvia was able to refill their water supplies, Erza found no danger and Gajeel found a meager amount of discarded dry wood. It was decided that the group would make camp for the night with each member taking a two-hour watch each. Before that, the group decided to discuss strategies as Gray sat back and although it wasn't clear to most, Lucy could detect a nod of amusement on his face as the everyone took turns to say their part.

"I reckon that mountain that Gray mentioned is where we're headin'," Gajeel said confidently. "A lot of dragons love mountains – my character is a Dragonborn, he would know."

"Just because he is doesn't mean he would know – the dragon could be hiding under the sands for all we know," Erza was quick to refute.

"That's dumb – the dragon's gonna wanna have a cave filled with lot'sa treasure," Natsu interjected with a gleam his eye. Lucy couldn't decide if he was excited about seeing a dragon or the treasure itself.

Juvia sat forward, somewhat timidly, "Juvia thinks that Gajeel maybe right. It's the only landmark that my beloved has mentioned to us."

Gray looked to Juvia for but a moment, not that she saw, but Lucy did, even in her distracted state of mind and she swore she spotted a small smile grace his features for just a second.

' _Just how does their relationship work anyway?'_

"Juvia – you have to think as your character would and not just about what Gray says," Erza gently reminded her.

"Juvia is sorry," Juvia quickly apologized.

"That's quite alright," Erza replied.

"You're one to talk, you're always metagaming!" Gajeel accused her. "I'm gonna roll for it – whatcha want Gray? History check?"

"Nature actually," Gray swiftly responded.

Gajeel grunted and rolled his dice, scoring a respectable 16.

"Alright, Metalicana knows enough about dragons to know that many of them make their lairs in mountains," Gray explained as Gajeel smiled on smugly, primarily towards Natsu but the fire mage paid him little attention. "See, told ya."

"Fine, but we should have a strategy – I don't think we are strong enough to take on a dragon by any stretch," Erza commanded, her facial expression indicating she was deep in thought.

Lucy honestly wasn't sure what to add to the exchange; Erza was right to want to have a plan but Lucy didn't know much about how to actually combat a dragon other than it was likely to breath them with fire.

Her thoughts kept returning back to Loke and Cana – she knew she needed to spend more time with the both them and it was almost hilarious to think that it wasn't that long ago that she wished for more of a social life… Now she was in the position where she clearly had to balance her friendships better.

"You think we need'ta train?" Natsu asked, tearing into a packet of chips and popping a few into his mouth at once, not caring that his mouth was full as he spoke. "Cause I wanna have more fire spells already."

Erza let out a sigh, probably not wanting to bring up that Natsu wasn't in character again. Lucy knew that it could be difficult to stay in character and was guilty of speaking in a way her character wouldn't on many occasions. It seemed that roleplaying solely with Natsu was easiest for her – as if the two of them adventuring together was just second nature to her.

"Some training would help but we could always think about just talking to the drag-" Erza began to suggest.

"Nah – I wanna fight it!" Natsu said, quickly cutting her off.

"Yeah, same here," Gajeel said, agreeing with Natsu in what was probably an incredibly rare moment.

' _Do these two always want to fight everything they immediately see?'_

"Juvia doesn't mind fighting a monster that Gray has prepared for us," Juvia added in agreement although for entirely different reasons. "Gray probably worked very hard on preparing it."

Unfortunately, Lucy found herself thinking about Tartaros yet again. The horrifying thought that she could be on some kind of list now combined with the fact of not knowing whether they knew of her identity as a Heartfilia.

Her family wasn't a well-known name outside of higher class society but some might recognize it where money was involved. Would she have to move? Would her father find out and try to force her to go back to Crocus? She seriously doubted that her being a mature adult at the age of twenty would stop him from trying if he found out that she was the target of a gang.

"… Lucy?" Juvia called out this time as Lucy snapped her head back to see the staring faces looking at her from across the table.

"Sorry, tired…" Lucy mumbled, knowing that she was beginning to sound like a broken record.

"Did you have any thoughts on the dragon?" Juvia said, clearly repeating herself.

Lucy nodded, "Yeah, we should find out more about it first before even thinking of fighting it."

"As I had already suggested," Erza said, nodding and evidently pleased that Lucy was thinking the same thing.

"Ugh, c'mon, Lucy!" Natsu pouted from beside her. "We can take a dragon – we'll train and get stronger and it'll be a piece of cake!"

Lucy couldn't help but feel encouraged by how confident Natsu was. "I didn't say we couldn't fight it – just to take the time to find out more about it… like finding out how big it is or if we could trap it in any way," she explained.

"Oh… I guess that makes sense," Natsu agreed.

"I'm tellin' ya it's gonna be a fire dragon of some sort – we're practically in a desert for fucks sake!" Gajeel vehemently declared, making Lucy wonder how much of the discussion about dragons she had actually not paid attention to.

"There's the matter of the princess too," Erza reminded them all. "We're to rescue her so our plan should ensure that she is safe at all times."

Lucy didn't contribute much to the conversation after that – they argued for a little while longer before deciding to have their characters finally go to sleep. Rain Woman was the first to take watch and Lucy was happy with Luna taking the second, citing that her character could use the time to gaze at the stars in the clear night sky. Salamander followed afterwards in order to use his magic to keep their bonfire going for a little longer.

With Titania taking the fourth watch and Metalicana taking the final watch, the night proved to be uneventful for their characters.

It didn't take long before Natsu spoke up again just as Gray was describing the morning to them.

"Let's find something to fight!"

"Juvia thinks we are supposed should head over to the mountain to see if there is any sign of a dragon there," Juvia reminded him.

"Yeah, but there's no reason why we can't have a fight or two on the way," Natsu replied confidently.

"We don't need to waste our time and energy on exterminating the local wildlife, Natsu," Erza said in obvious disagreement.

"Why not?!" Natsu barked back.

"What if we sustain several injuries and cannot adequately defend ourselves at night should something ambush us?" Erza replied, adding logic to the argument.

Natsu shook his head, "We need to fight to get stronger… hey, Gray! Can I look for something to fight?"

Lucy wasn't sure why Natsu had suddenly decided to disagree with and go against what Erza was saying all of a sudden.

' _Perhaps his fistfight with Jackal gave him a burst of confidence and bravery.'_

"Roll for it," Gray replied, looking a little more eager than normal to see the outcome of Natsu's decision.

It was an average roll of 13 but Gray had no issue in telling everyone about a monster that Salamander could see, not too far off from them.

"Salamander, you think you can see an incredibly large scorpion moving around in the distance. What are you gonna do?" Gray asked.

"Fight it."

Erza rubbed her fingers against her forehead in exasperation.

Two minutes later, they were battling a venomous arachnid and from Gray's vivid description of the creature, Lucy found it a terrifying prospect for any character to battle. She fully utilized her lucky feat in her rolls, not wanting for a second to let anyone down or get stung by the creature as it, without a shadow of a doubt, would have a poison effect.

Natsu used his higher-level fire spells and Gajeel actually chose to use his bard abilities to inspire the other party members, giving them all advantage for a turn.

The scorpion died rather quickly with only Erza and Juvia sustaining some injuries to which Lucy volunteered to heal.

"Have we leveled yet?" Natsu immediately asked afterwards.

"No," Gray coldly answered.

Natsu argued that an enemy like that should be enough and Gray tried to explain that there was no way he could know that. It was then that Natsu asked to see the 'Monster Manual' to confirm the experience amount which led to a typical 'Natsu and Gray argument'.

Lucy was distracted from the squabble between Natsu and Gray by the vibrations of her phone in her bag. Ignoring the two, she leaned over and went to take a quick look at it.

 **Loke:** _Hey, I think we should talk. Are you free this week?_

Lucy wouldn't normally reply mid-session but seeing as the only talking going on was Natsu trying to calculate the experience points gained from the monster encounter and coming up with some… very incorrect numbers, she tapped out a reply.

 **Lucy:** _I'm free_ _on_ _Wednesday as usual. Coffee?_

Gray called Natsu an idiot, Natsu stood up in an aggressive stance only to wince at the sudden movement of his muscles and Lucy caught his reaction, recalling the bruise that he had on his side. She had no idea how he could tolerate it so freely without any ice or rest – then again, perhaps he had rested up at his home after she had to dash out to meet Cana. The surprising part of it all for Lucy wasn't even the bruise he'd received – it was the fact that Natsu was not just fit, he was well… incredibly muscular underneath his t-shirt.

She thought maybe he only had some definition in that area but it was obvious that he worked out a lot more than she gave him credit for. Considering that Gray, being shirtless (and coincidentally was at this very second much to Juvia's delight), was also quite muscular, leaving Lucy to conclude that despite their bickering – there was a good chance they worked out together.

' _I'm being distracted by_ _men's_ _chest_ _s_ _now – what is up with me,_ _ugh,_ _come on,_ _pay attention you stupid brain_ _!'_

"Hey, you okay, man?" Gray asked Natsu, their quarreling ceasing immediately.

"Yeah, just had some trouble over in my part of town," Natsu replied nonchalantly and avoided going into detail about his injury in the slightest.

"What happened? When did it happen?" Erza anxiously asked, looking more than just curious.

"Doesn't matter, I dealt with it," Natsu blithely answered, sitting back down. Lucy wasn't sure why he hadn't mentioned Tartaros or Jackal but found she was actually relieved that he didn't. The game didn't need to be derailed any further and she was trying not to think about that as it is.

' _There's always a chance the police will look into it as they said they would…'_

Luckily, her phone buzzed and she glanced to see Loke's reply.

 **Loke:** _I would love to have coffee with you, but how about a different place this time? I know a nice place with a great view of the canal._

Lucy found that a little odd for him to suddenly suggest a different place other than their regular cafe but perhaps he just needed a change of scenery or perhaps the other place had something different on their menu he wanted to try.

 **Lucy:** _Sure, sounds good!_

"Natsu, if something happened, you should inform me and-" Erza continued, a little more sternly this time.

"It's fine, can we just keep playing?" Natsu interrupted her, waving off any notion of giving a damn about his bruise. He grabbed his dice and rolled without first asking Gray. "See, look, I rolled a 15 on perception, do I find any more monsters?"

Gray shrugged at Erza, unwilling or wanting to pester his pink-haired friend for any more information. "Yeah okay, Pyro, you can see…"

Honestly, Lucy wasn't in the mood to fight any more monsters. She loved their adventure so far but she knew she wasn't feeling quite herself that evening. Still, Natsu seemed determined to train on something.

"Alright, you can see a pack of large-looking rats not too far off in the distance, huddled around something," Gray explained.

Natsu didn't even hesitate with his response, "Me and Happy go straight over there and get ready to fight them!"

"Uh, okay…" Gray hesitantly replied. "What about the rest of you?"

"I don't think he should be fighting stuff on his own," Juvia said. "Rain woman will help."

"Let's all help the flamin' moron," Gajeel barked. "It's not like we can't handle it or nothin'."

The group found that a pack of giant rats, which Gray had described as being the size of cats, weren't as easy as they thought. There were nine of them in total, chewing at the corpse of a vulture.

Two of them went down swiftly thanks to Salamander's fire magic and Titania's swordsmanship. Juvia wasn't as lucky with her rolls and Luna took on her favored starry form of the archer. However, the remaining rats fought back and despite Metalicana's 'Dragon Hide' feat that gave him stronger scales that behaved like armor as well as being a feature that only a Dragonborn character could take, one of the rats managed to get a lucky bite on him.

It was then that Gray asked for a constitution check which Gajeel rolled poorly on.

"What did it do?" Gajeel asked when Gray didn't explain why he had to roll the check.

"You'll see later," Gray simply said and moved on to the second round of turns.

Four more rats went down during everyone's turns, Juvia, in particular, was scoring well on her rolls that time. One of the remaining rats then went for Salamander, also successfully biting him and Natsu, like Gajeel, rolled poorly on a constitution saving throw.

"Are ya gonna tell me what it did?" Natsu asked, probably already knowing the Gray wouldn't tell him.

"Not yet," Gray reiterated.

Titania was quick to use her turn to take out another rat before using her class ability to take another turn immediately afterwards to finish off the last rat.

"I don't want them biting anyone else," Erza said. "Now can we move on from fighting overgrown rodents?"

Much to Natsu's dismay, everyone including Lucy voted in favor of making some actual progress instead of looking for random fights.

"Have I at least gone up a level yet, Ice Prick?" Natsu groaned.

"Even if you did, it would happen until the end of the session," Gray told him and Natsu rolled his eyes at him in return.

The group managed another two hours of travel without hindrance before Gray began to describe the sun setting for them all.

"Oi, Bunny Girl," Gajeel said, lightly poking Lucy in the arm. "The cat wants to talk to you."

Lucy wasn't sure how to answer that. _'What?'_

Gajeel rolled his eyes, "Salamander's dumb pet. It's rubbing on your leg or somethin'."

It was then that Lucy recalled that Gray had said that Gajeel was roleplaying as Happy that evening and this was an attempt of his to do so. The biker had never directly tried to roleplay with her before and the prospect of doing so was intriguing to her. She didn't catch the wary glance Natsu displayed in her direction.

"Oh, I'll cast 'Speak with Animals' to talk to Happy," Lucy said, readying herself for whatever Gajeel was going to do.

Gajeel smiled before sitting back his chair, "It's says something lame like 'blah, blah, blah, I like fish'."

"My cat isn't lame!" Natsu insisted from across the table.

"Yeah, whatever," Gajeel shrugged. "Anyway, it then says, 'Salamander is dumb and wants to be Metalicana's pet instead!'"

"Get your own flying cat you asshole!" Natsu yelled before Erza banged her fist loudly on the table, knocking down all the miniatures.

Needless to say, Gray ruled that Happy did not say that and merely said that he wanted fish instead which placated the table. Gray also reminded Natsu that only Lucy could understand what the Happy was saying. Gajeel on the other hand seemed pleased to have gotten a rise out of Natsu.

When Gray described how the sunlight was rapidly disappearing as night descended upon them. Erza was quick to display her leadership qualities once again.

"I think despite those nasty bites that you've both received," she began. "We've made great progress and we should set up camp to have a long rest before we reach the mountain."

Lucy nodded in silent agreement with the redhead. After two battles, her character could certainly use the rest to get her spell slots back. She was actually finding that it was a little frustrating that her spell slots were starting to become reserved for healing now and she suspected that her starry form choice would soon always have to be the chalice soon – the one with the healing bonus ability. It was a worthy role to have within the party but she really wanted to do more than just that.

"I ain't looking for firewood again – can I go huntin' instead?" Gajeel asked. "I think Metalicana would want something fresh to eat for once."

"Yeah, it's huntin' time!" Natsu added.

It was decided that Titania would sort out the firewood problem leaving Rain Woman and Luna to forage. Gray had them all roll before announcing the results.

"Titania manages to find an old but broken cart left abandoned on a disused path that she could use for firewood," Gray explained. "Salamander finds nothing-"

"Seriously, man?" Natsu interrupted bu Gray ignored him as per usual.

"Metalicana – you manage to hunt down a desert hare."

"Nice one, hope it doesn't offend ya, Bunny Girl," Gajeel said, grinning at Lucy.

"Why would it offend me?" Lucy asked and still not understanding why he had picked that name for her.

"Reasons," was his response.

"Rain woman finds a few pomegranates and Luna finds… a handful of almonds," Gray finished. It was… an interesting selection of food when put together, Lucy thought.

"I shall cook a meal for everyone!" Erza quickly stated with a gleam in her eyes.

"Juvia is not sure what you could make with what we found…" Juvia muttered. "Juvia thinks we could roast the hare on the fire."

The conversation between them descended into a small discussion about food with Erza eventually demanding that she will attempt to cook some sort of 'desert stew'. Lucy wasn't even sure how they went about it either – she found herself thinking about Cana again, repeating the morning from her memory and how she could go on to help her.

' _Maybe I could be with her when she goes to find that teacher…'_

Her fingers drummed along the table as she tried to think of ways to be helpful. She considered asking Natsu or Gray about the teacher in question – but thought it would be rude to involve them without first asking Cana.

She also wondered if Cana had told Loke – she had no idea if those two were even close like that.

"Okay, you rolled a 3, Erza," Gray said. "The food you made is… pretty damn awful."

"It's a good thing we still have rations," Juvia said, already changing the total amount she had on her sheet.

Lucy meanwhile, not paying attention, continued to drum her fingers whilst deep in thought.

"Lucy, let's talk," Erza loudly and suddenly announced to the group, breaking Lucy from her circling thoughts and causing the group to look towards her in confusion.

"Wha-?" Lucy managed to say before processing what Erza had just said.

' _Why now? Is she going to ask about last night? Does she know about Jackal?'_

"Huh, why?" Natsu blurted out from beside her, leaning forward in his seat to look at Erza with bewilderment in his eyes.

"I'm sorry for interrupting the game like this but we all could use the break. Lucy, let's talk downstairs," Erza sternly explained, her voice unwavering and firm.

Lucy nervously gulped, not liking the prospect of this in the slightest but also unable to say no to Erza. She carefully and reluctantly stood up from her seat and found herself looking to Natsu for a moment who could only shrug at her in confusion. Erza approached her, taking her by her arm and gently tugged her towards the basement.

"Juvia, come along too," Erza suddenly demanded as well.

Lucy could hear the chair scrape against the floor behind her and Juvia meekly agreed. Why was Erza including Juvia in… well, whatever it was. Perhaps it was nothing to do with the night before after all.

"Ugh, what a pain," Gajeel commented from behind them. "Got any more of those buns, Mira?"

* * *

A minute later, the three women were sat in the familiar setting of used basement couches and fairy lights decor once more. Lucy fidgeted nervously but that did little to dissuade Erza. She looked momentarily for help or guidance or even a way out of this from Juvia but the blue-haired woman only sat there, equally as concerned and confused as to why Erza had demanded this.

"Okay, spill," Erza commanded, pointing her finger at Lucy from her seated position in her favored armchair.

"Spill what?" Lucy asked, knowing that with roughly around ninety percent certainty that this was absolutely going to be about last night.

"You've been acting very unlike yourself all evening – I need to know what's wrong so I can rectify the situation for you," Erza explained and for a moment, Lucy felt flattered that the redhead was willing to do go to such lengths for her. However, that still didn't change the fact that Lucy didn't want to talk about the night before – not yet anyway.

"Nothing's wrong! Everything is okay!" Lucy tried to insist but the stare that Erza directed at her meant that she wasn't doing a great job of convincing her in the slightest. Lucy once again looked to Juvia for help.

"Juvia thinks Erza is right. Juvia hopes nothing bad has happened," Juvia said quietly with avid concern.

"I'm fine! Just fine!" Lucy tried again as Erza shook her head in disagreement.

"Did Natsu treat you badly on your date, Lucy?" Erza then asked, earning a gasp from Juvia and a look of absolute shock and horror from Lucy. "If he did something ungentlemanly then I will-"

"W-What?!" Lucy stammered, interrupting Erza. "No! He didn't! And it wasn't a date!"

"Lucy had a date? And it wasn't with Gray?!" Juvia squealed from the other armchair, drumming her feet excitedly against the floor. "Juvia is so happy that she has one less love rival!"

"Seriously, you still think I'm a love rival?!" Lucy nearly shrieked back, her face in utter disbelief at Juvia's unfounded paranoia. "And for the last time, it wasn't a date!"

"Then what is the matter then, Lucy?" Erza asked, her voice more concerned than stern now.

Lucy let out an exhausted and defeated sigh. It seemed that Erza wasn't going to drop this unless she gave them something. Knowing Erza, if she mentioned Tartaros and Jackal now, then D&D would be called off as Erza would demand that some sort of justice be done. Lucy really wanted to believe that Natsu was right – that nothing would come of this and everything would be fine.

"It's just been a stressful week, I'm a little tired and didn't have much sleep last night," Lucy said and all of that was truthful. She didn't even figure that the Erza could take that any other way.

"No? Why not?" Erza asked and before Lucy could answer, Erza's face turned to one of shock as she covered her mouth.

"What is it?" Lucy wearily asked, wanting this to be over with already.

"Did you stay the night at Natsu's? Is your lack of sleep because-"

Lucy's eyes widened when she realized where Erza was taking this. "NO!" She yelled and turning beet red at the very thought. If this was the route of this unfair interrogation was going, there was no chance in hell she was going to tell them that Natsu had stayed and slept on her sofa. She would never live it down!

Erza went silent and Juvia shifted awkwardly in her seat for a minute. Honestly, Lucy just wanted to leave, go home and have a bath. If she wished upon a star hard enough, maybe it would become the most soothing bath in existence that could take away the whole weekend and everything would be back to normal by the time Monday came around. She would miss out on the fun evening she had with Natsu but it would be worth it… wouldn't it?

Playing back those moments with Natsu from the night before… did something weird to her. She couldn't describe it in words – a common recurrence she was having lately it seemed. The more she thought about it – the more she couldn't regret her decision of spending time with him in the slightest. If it weren't for Jackal, she would be more than happy to spend another evening just like that.

"I have a suggestion," Erza suddenly announced although it sounded more like an expectation than a suggestion. "I think we could all use with a spa day and I suggest we have one as soon possible."

Lucy noted that there was something about the way that Erza was saying that that wasn't entirely out of concern for her or Juvia. Erza looked as if she relished the idea herself. But Erza's suggestion came pretty close to a heavenly bath in Lucy's eyes. There was, however, the cost to think about.

"How soon?" Juvia inquired.

"Tomorrow would be an excellent time."

Juvia grinned madly, swelling with excitement. "Juvia thinks that's a great idea!"

"Of course, that's why I suggested it," Erza deadpanned before turning to Lucy. "Are you available tomorrow, Lucy?"

Technically, she was. She had no plans to speak of, but she sincerely hoped that if she were somehow able to afford to go that the girls would cease all questioning about Natsu. She didn't see why they were so fixated on them anyway – they weren't a thing, Natsu wasn't her type and they were just friends.

"I would like to go but uh, money can be a bit tight for me…" Lucy tried to explain although she couldn't hide from the fact that a spa day sounded so appealing.

"I see," Erza responded before looking thoughtful for a moment. "Very well, I can pay for you Lucy but you will have to pay it back eventually."

The thought of being in debt like that to a friend didn't appeal to Lucy at all. "No, that's okay Erza…"

"Hmm, well I would hate for you to be left out," Erza said quietly.

"Juvia agrees. Lucy should be there."

"How much is it?" Lucy asked, deciding that it would be a little ridiculous to decide on whether she would be attending without knowing how much it would cost her.

Erza didn't even pause to think about her answer. "It's 6500J for six hours on Sundays."

Lucy awkwardly gulped. She hadn't even managed to pay Natsu for her share of the food last night yet, let alone find 6500J to spare for some unnecessary luxury.

"Yeah, that's a little expensive for me," Lucy murmured, dejectedly looking down and disappointed but accepting that it's the life she chose for herself after all. She would never turn to her father for support – especially on something so frivolous.

"How about you owe me a favor instead?" Erza was quick to suggest, her tone of voice neither lacking pity or judgment.

Lucy looked up, unsure as to what Erza meant. "A favor?"

"Yes. I will pay for you and you can run an errand for me that is of roughly equal value later."

Juvia sprang from her seat, "Please, Lucy? Juvia doesn't get to see Gray on Sundays and has never been to a spa with her friends before!"

' _Well, I suppose if it's just a favor that Erza wants…'_

Not wanting to let her friends down or miss out on something more pampering and relaxing than a just a bath, Lucy found herself leaning to say yes. She believed Erza was entirely trustworthy and most likely wouldn't have her doing any sort of errand that would be too demanding of her.

"Okay, deal. I'll go," Lucy said as the two girls awaited her answer with bated breath. Once they heard her agreement leave her lips, the two let out small cheers.

"Excellent. I'll pick you up tomorrow," Erza said cheerfully. "I will ask Mira and Lisanna if they wish to join us as well, I believe we could all fit in my car."

The fact that Mira and Lisanna might be there too had Lucy feeling mildly excited too – she was naturally curious and had wanted to get to know the both of them a little better ever since she started attending D&D sessions at their store.

The thought of asking Cana to attend as well did cross Lucy's mind for a moment although she knew that chances of that happening were unlikely given Cana's recent revelation. Then again, perhaps Cana would love a chance to relax with her recent decision no doubt weighing on her mind.

"Do you mind if I ask one of my friends to join me?" Lucy quickly asked, already taking out her phone with her fingers at the ready.

"Of course," Erza answered. "Keep in mind there is limited space in my car – we will have to arrange other transportation if it comes to it."

"Juvia can't wait to see what the water is like – is it relaxing?" Juvia asked, her question directed at Erza specifically.

Lucy had no idea which spa that Erza had intended for them to all go to but she was well aware that Hosenka, a small town west of Magnolia, was renowned for its hot springs. She had always wanted to visit ever since moving to Magnolia but never had the finances or opportunity to do so.

Cana didn't respond immediately to Lucy's message but that was to be expected – she was likely to be working tonight.

"Indeed, the waters do wonders for your skin," Erza beamed back at Juvia proudly. "It will also make an excellent place to discuss our battle tactics for the dragon we are to face soon."

Lucy and Juvia simultaneously shot Erza befuddled looks, hoping that Erza was joking. The expression on Erza's face indicated that she was not.

' _So much for relaxing if Erza just wants to talk_ _about_ _fighting dragons_ _!'_

Still, Lucy took solace in the fact that probably wouldn't be the only thing Erza would want to talk about all day… surely? And there was also the thought of having silky smooth skin at the end of the day made it worth it regardless.

"Now, let's get back to the table. You two need to get your heads back in the game as the dragon is getting closer and we need to stay vigilant," Erza said with all seriousness.

"But Juvia has been-" the blue-haired woman began to protest.

"You've been staring at Gray all evening and agreeing with everything he's said. Pay attention to the party, Juvia," was Erza's swift and blunt response. Lucy caught Juvia's faint blush before she murmured something about doing better.

Once they returned to the table, Lucy wasn't particularly surprised to see Natsu and Gajeel arguing over about which was the best way to fight a dragon. Gray sat with his chin in his hand, propped up on the table by his elbow as he watched on, probably sorely hoping the two male players of his group would come to a stop soon.

Lucy couldn't help but feel a little bad for their dungeon master. She would certainly try to get her head back into the game, after all, she had a spa day tomorrow to look forward to now.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, initially, I did plan on reaching some more 'spooky' themed chapters by the time Halloween rolled around for us readers/writers but due to extra chapters/longer chapters/splitting chapters, those chapters are still a few weeks away. Sorry about that! The chapters that happen on Halloween for these characters are also still way off as well!
> 
> For this D&D session, I wanted to avoid the focus being on combat despite combat happening as that's what happened in the last D&D chapter. D&D doesn't have to be just about the fighting although some groups are certainly more focused on that than others!
> 
> I'm also starting to really miss reading other people's FT fanfiction. I'm managing to keep up with the ones that I was already following before ever posting this fic but all my reading time has turned into writing time instead. I think I need to dedicate one of my evenings to just reading for a bit…
> 
> Next Chapter: Time to relax! … I wonder what they'll talk about?
> 
> D&D Terms:  
> Long Rest: Characters need a long rest to heal up their hit points and restore all their spell slots. A long rest needs to be at least 8 hours. This is usually done in the time spent sleeping but other relaxing non-strenuous activities can also count. You can only have one long rest every 24 hours.


	20. The Bathing Pools of Merfolk

**Chapter Twenty**

**The Bathing Pools of Merfolk**

* * *

**Sunday** **, September 27th**

It wasn't every day that Lucy expected to be sat in the backseat of Erza's car and to be listening to both Cana and Erza discuss different trading card games together. At first, she wasn't sure as to how Cana would take to Erza when the former was more than happy to tag along to a spa day which did turn out to be in Hosenka as Lucy had suspected. Erza had never mentioned collecting cards before and to be honest, Lucy wasn't sure what they were talking about.

That aside, Lucy was paying more attention anyway to the last messages she had received from Natsu on her phone from the night prior.

**Natsu:** _forgot to tell u_

**Natsu:** _dont tell erza bout jackal_

**Natsu:** _I will tell u y later_

She narrowed her eyes at this as it would have been great information for her to have had last night during D&D. Luckily, Lucy was so preoccupied with not wanting to spoil their D&D game that not telling Erza about what had happened just naturally didn't happen.

Why Natsu was now telling her not to say anything was very questionable and she couldn't help but be a little annoyed he hadn't given her any more information as to why. Lucy could only guess that Erza wouldn't take it well or maybe Natsu feared how she might react… not that he didn't fear her in general.

Before she had received those messages, Lucy had at least managed to message Natsu for a little while after D&D once she had got home. As expected, Gray had informed them all that their characters were now all level five and naturally, Natsu was ecstatic and send her the word 'LEVEL 3 FIREBALL' over and over again. She assumed it must have been a new spell he had taken with his level up and was excited about the prospect of casting it in their next game.

Despite trying to ask him about Jackal in her messages, Natsu just told her not to worry about it.

' _As if it were so easy.'_

She was in the half-mind to invite him back over to hers to stay on her sofa again instead of worrying about the risk of him running into trouble once more but ultimately decided against it. He was convinced he could handle it and she didn't want to not trust him on that. After all, if he had lived in that part of town for some time, he was sure to be fine… she hoped. She knew she needed to stop fussing so much. At least she was feeling much more refreshed after a decent night's sleep and many of the worries she had harbored had numbed significantly overnight.

Her friend's conversation about cards was abruptly halted as Erza suddenly spoke up loudly.

"We're almost there – now remember, she's a little timid as well as a minor but she is still very much looking forward to this," she announced as she turned into a quiet street with her eyes intensely focused on the small house that was a bit more isolated and out of the way at the end of the road.

"What was her name again?" Lucy asked, recalling that Erza had mentioned all of this when she first picked her and Cana up.

"Wendy," Erza answered. "I used to babysit her a few years ago – she's fifteen years old and quite mature for her age."

"Okay, she sounds cute but isn't it sorta weird for her to hang out with her former babysitter?" Cana asked quizzically from the seat next to Lucy's. She was also sitting in the back as they had been informed that the front seat was 'reserved' for the teenager in question.

"Not at all. She still asks for my assistance from time to time and she also attends one of the D&D groups at the store," Erza replied freely.

"Oh, which one?" Lucy sat forward to ask, curious as ever.

"Lamia Scale. They play on Thursdays."

Erza pulled her car into the driveway of the small house that resembled a countryside cottage which was surrounded by a garden on both of its sides, the late flowering plants in the flowerbeds making the whole home picturesque.

"I'll go see if she's ready," Erza informed them before spinning around in her chair to stare intently at the two women in the back. "If either of you need to use the restroom, the drive will take about an hour and I don't plan on making any stops so now is the time to say."

Lucy had come to know Erza as a… bit unconventional when it came to her choice of words but she hadn't expected to be warned as if she were a child. Perhaps it was just in Erza's nature to do.

"Uh, yeah, I'm fine thanks," Cana said awkwardly.

"Yeah, same here, Erza," Lucy also replied.

Erza nodded and got out of her car to approach the front door of the house.

"I don't recall her much from school but wow, she's bossy!" Cana loudly exclaimed once Erza was far enough away, turning to Lucy with a surprised expression.

"Yeah, I think she's just so used dealing with Natsu and Gray's antics that it naturally just became part of who she is," Lucy answered, voicing her thoughts out loud as well as being unable to refrain herself from giggling a little at just how absurd things could be sometimes in her circle of friends.

Lucy caught sight of the front door opening from where they sat inside the car and she spotted a young teenage girl step out and greet Erza cheerfully. If Lucy had to describe her based on looks alone, she'd say that the teenager's petite figure almost reminded her of Levy if weren't for the long, dark blue pigtails that contrasted with her fair skin.

Wendy called back into the house, no doubt to say goodbye to her parents before shutting the door behind her and following Erza out towards the car.

A moment later and Erza was back in the car with Wendy gingerly taking the front seat. The young teenager turned to look towards the back and offered both Cana and Lucy a shy smile.

"Hello. I'm Wendy. It's nice to meet you!" She greeted them with.

"Hey, I'm Cana."

"I'm Lucy, it's nice to meet you too!" Lucy replied before looking to Erza. She was curious as to where Juvia, Mira and Lisanna were currently at. "So how are the others getting there?"

"Mira is taking Lisanna and Juvia in her car – we'll be meeting them outside the spa," Erza answered. "Now I expect everyone to buckle up as I will be driving faster once we're out of town. I won't tolerate anyone not using their seat belt in my car."

A minute later, Erza had reversed back into the street before turning the car around and was back on her way to returning to the main road.

Erza began to ask Wendy about how school was going for her and the like. Lucy listened in keenly for a while as Wendy was just so sweet and innocent to listen to. When Lucy thought back to how she used to be when she was only fifteen years old, she recalled that's when her rebellious streak first started to emerge. How would have her life turned out differently if she were more like Wendy, would have her father been more accepting of her wants and aspirations back then?

Erza turned into the main road, Lucy quickly recognizing it as the one that circled around the center of town and would eventually lead out onto the highway.

It was at this point that Wendy suddenly made a sound that was a garbled mix between a whine and a groan as she uncontrollably lurched forward a little in her seat.

"Are you okay?" Lucy instinctively asked, reaching out and placing her hand on the teenage girl's shoulder.

Wendy gulped before nodding, "I'm f-fine. I just get car sick really easily…"

"Oh, that's really unfortunate… is there anything I can do?" Lucy gently asked.

"N-no…" Wendy stammered as she gulped again. "If I just focus on looking ahead, I should be okay."

Lucy nodded understandingly. Now she knew why Erza had the front seat reserved for Wendy.

"T-Thank you for asking," Wendy said as she shook her head frantically for a moment as if to try and shake off the nauseous feeling before looking straight ahead.

Having not really experienced any forms of motion sickness before, Lucy wondered just how common it really was. The closest experience she had was when she would read a book as a young girl in her parent's car whenever they had to go somewhere and that had always left her feeling sickly.

Lucy's phone suddenly vibrated in her palm and she peered down at it.

**Natsu:** _r u sure_ _i_ _cant come today?_

Lucy lightly shook her head in minor disbelief at Natsu's eagerness to join them. When she mentioned the newly planned spa day to him in her messages last night, she was doing so with the expectation that he wouldn't be interested in joining them.

It turned out that the loud and boisterous Natsu Dragneel really liked the idea of relaxing in a spa with its own natural hot springs. Lucy, on the other hand, could only picture him diving in headfirst into the shallow waters and attempting to splash everyone or wrestle Gray as if he were a child at his local pool, even when he was sporting that sore bruise.

She had to tell him that it seemed like a 'girls only' thing and that a vehicle would be involved in getting there. Surprisingly, that didn't deter him and he said would try to stomach the trip. When Lucy considered each and every time he declined to put up with a five-minute ride in Erza's car when she offered him a lift home on D&D nights, she couldn't help but wonder what had changed.

' _Perhaps I'm overthinking this… maybe he just really wants to be in the spa?'_

Lucy then reminded him about his bruise and how Erza would definitely see before then asking him how he got it. Natsu responded by saying that he would just avoid her which didn't seem like much of a plan.

He finally conceded when she said it would be six hours of Juvia talking about Gray and that he would also be the only man with them and therefore, not allowed to sit in the woman's section of the spa with them. Why he was suddenly asking again now should have been surprising but if Lucy had learned anything about Natsu, it was that he could be, at times, unpredictable as the flames that his character wielded.

**Lucy:** _Yep!_ _It's too late_ _now anyway_ _, we're already on our way out of town!_

**Natsu:** _:(_

Lucy put away her phone and looked over to Cana. She was leaning on her elbow and quietly staring out the window.

' _She must still have a lot on her mind.'_

Lucy decided to do the same on her side and admire the scenery herself. It wasn't long before she was looking at the tall buildings in Magnolia's center along with the historic Kardia Cathedral that was the main tourist attraction of the entire town. An urban view was soon replaced with gentle hills and golden fields of wheat, corn and sunflowers.

The forest looked the most intriguing, mostly because it hadn't been very often in Lucy's life that she had gone for walks in nature outside of city parks. She recalled Natsu telling her that he wanted to live out in the woods – perhaps in the very same forest she was looking at. That must be peaceful, she thought.

' _I bet it would be so idyllic for writing too.'_

"H-Hey, Lucy? Cana?" Wendy asked, turning towards them and looking somewhat pale but holding herself together.

"Yeah?" Cana answered for them both, breaking away from the window.

"C-Can you tell me a-about your D&D characters?" Wendy somehow managed to politely ask in her queasy state.

"Sorry, I don't play D&D," Cana curtly answered her.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I just a-assumed!"

"I play a druid, Wendy," Lucy said reassuringly, smiling at her. "She's called Luna and she studies the stars."

"Really? That sounds fun! I've thought about playing a druid myself, perhaps for my next character!"

Erza was quick to add her own thoughts into the mix. "Luna makes an excellent addition to our team. She provides healing when we need it and some of her spells are very useful."

"Healing?" Wendy inquisitively asked, looking from Lucy to Erza before back at Lucy again.

"Yeah…" Lucy said hesitantly, unable to hide the fact she wasn't overly pleased about that. "Everyone is always doing reckless stuff and I have use my spells to heal them."

"Well, that's Natsu and Gajeel for you. Gray is just as bad when he's playing just as a regular player," Erza replied.

"Gray's not always been a dungeon master?"

"Yes – most people begin as players before deciding they want to be a dungeon master."

"What about you, Erza?" Wendy asked, sitting back in her chair and clutching her stomach uncomfortably.

"I've considered it but it takes up a lot of your time to manage it and I maintain a very busy life as it," Erza plainly answered leaving Lucy silently questioning what Erza possibly did with her spare time.

"Oh I see, then what about you, Lucy?" Wendy asked, although not turning to face her.

Lucy, not expecting the question, had never considered becoming a dungeon master before. "I've not been playing for very long," she admitted to the teenager. "So I still have a lot to learn before I even think about that."

She had been happy as a player thus far, enjoying interacting with everyone's characters and writing about their adventure with some embellishments and less silliness. Running her own setting and quests for everyone sounded so daunting but not entirely off-putting.

The conversation soon turned to Cana discussing her various card collections with Wendy. Erza, returning to presumably the conversation that she and Cana were having earlier, wanted to hear about the different rule sets for each card game Cana listed off the top of her head which didn't make much in the way of conversation for everyone else.

Eventually, the conversation moved onto Cana's tarot card collection and then she offered to do a reading for everyone at some point in a bout of newfound enthusiasm. Lucy had had readings from Cana in the past which were usually extremely vague as well as teasing that she would get a 'passionate boyfriend' soon or the like. Still, Lucy was happy to see that Cana was getting along with both Erza and Wendy, even though she barely knew Wendy herself yet.

* * *

Hosenka was an attractive town for all the right reasons that Lucy could think of. The architecture was from another era with ageing buildings that had been looked after very well from what she could tell. There wasn't much in the way of modern designs – it was all old wood, brick and cobblestone streets.

Erza's car bumped along over the irregular stony road and Lucy could only feel for poor Wendy who really struggled to not throw up there and then. Once the road had flattened out, Erza was quick about finding a place to park her car before making comments about paying for parking via an app on her cellphone.

Wendy was fast to exit the car, almost practically collapsing in the process and Lucy gasped at how sickly she must have surely felt to be in such a state.

' _Is it this bad for Natsu, too?'_

Both Lucy and Cana left the car as Erza was still paying, Lucy quickly running to Wendy's side and asking what she could do for help.

"Ugh… I'm okay," Wendy quietly faltered. "I just need to take a breath and there's really good air out here."

Wendy wasn't wrong, the town lacked the pollution of larger cities and its geographically elevated status which was provided to it by the surrounding mountains meant it left the air clean and crisp. Lucy couldn't resist taking a deep breath herself and feeling a whole lot better for it too.

"Do you think the place serves booze?" Cana not-so-randomly asked out loud as she came to stand beside Lucy, placing her hand on Lucy's shoulders.

"I wouldn't know-" Lucy began to say.

"It sells sake, mimosas and a lot of cold beverages with slices of cucumber," Erza answered in her stead without skipping a beat before turning to Wendy. "Are you sure you're alright, Wendy? I forgot how bumpy the roads here could be."

"Yes, I'm feeling a lot better now!" Wendy said with a graceful smile.

"Good. The spa is five minutes walk from here – I'll lead the way," Erza announced as she turned to the rest of them.

As they walked, the girls asked Erza many questions about the spa – from the different, naturally warm pools to the luxury services available. Lucy was in no place to afford a massage or anything remotely similar, even with Erza paying for her, but she figured the warm water alone would be sufficient, no matter how tempting the beauty packages sounded.

Before long, they met with Mira who, as expected, was waiting with Lisanna and Juvia near the spa's entrance. Wendy was quick to approach them and greet them all very politely which Lucy found was incredibly sweet of her to do. Juvia, in particular, looked enthusiastic to be there and Lucy couldn't blame her after remembering how Juvia had sounded very lonely throughout her high school years. She could relate to her in that way – maybe not through that period of her life specifically, but definitely when it came to growing up with no one to be her friend.

"You look really happy today, Juvia," Lucy just had to say to her.

"Juvia is happy! Juvia has so many friends now and is going to a spa!" Juvia replied, clasping her hands together and not holding back her smile in the slightest.

"Shall we all head in then?" Lisanna asked, nodding towards to entrance.

"Yes, lets," Erza swiftly responded, leading the charge and practically marching inside ahead of everyone else.

The reception area was quiet and Erza was quick to approach the front desk, asking Lucy to join her so she could pay for her as well and to make sure she got a towel to wear. Naturally, Lucy had to opt for a larger towel to cover her generous chest area appropriately.

Once everyone had paid and collected their towels, they made their way to the women's changing rooms.

"It's customary to use the towels when traversing around the spa but for the area outside, being naked is expected," Erza quick to inform them all.

Lucy was not one to feel overly embarrassed about her nudity in the company of other women but from the way she felt Juvia tensed beside her suggested that the blue-haired woman did not feel the same way.

"Is it… mandatory?" Juvia asked meekly in a low voice. Erza was already in the process of stripping down, evidently very confident in her own skin. Mirajane followed suit as well as Lisanna although at a more delicate pace.

"Yes – the water needs to stay clean," Erza answered. "There is nothing to be ashamed of here, Juvia. Nobody is going to judge you."

Juvia bit her lip anxiously and seemed to internally struggle with the idea of being naked in front of her friends. Wendy was the first to step in and reassure her.

"It's okay, Juvia," she said softly. "Erza assures me there will be no men allowed in under any circumstance if that's what you are worried about."

"Yeah, and you wanted to come with all your friends so just let go and enjoy yourself!" Lisanna added which seemed to help Juvia regain some confidence.

Juvia, after a moment, began to hesitantly remove her clothes as did Wendy and Cana.

Lucy began to remove hers too and was soon as naked as everyone else. She wasn't ashamed in the slightest, in fact, she was fairly proud of her assets but she couldn't help but think back to the comments her father used to make to her as she developed into a woman, leaving her feeling a little insecure.

It was always, 'watch your weight or men will find you unattractive' or 'you look like a harlot with that lipstick color'. If it wasn't for Levy's support or Cana's compliments, she wondered where her confidence might have ended up at.

After a few minutes, everyone donned their towels and Juvia, whilst she still looked anxious, was reassured by Lisanna and Mira once more. They all took turns to help pin each other's lengthy hair up with the exception of Lisanna whose small platinum pigtails were just fine as they were.

"So Erza, as a _seasoned regular_ of this place, where do you suggest we go first?" Mira asked with an edge of sarcasm to her voice.

"I suggest the onsens outside, they will be particularly enjoyable during the morning," Erza answered plainly. She gladly led the way as the rest of the women trailed behind, giggling and talking lightly in anticipation of relaxing in the warm waters.

When Lucy stepped outside, she already knew that the mountainous air was fresh and crisp with a slight chill, but wearing nothing but a towel highlighted that it was soon mid-autumn and her arms and legs were the first to feel it. Erza led them to a shower area where they took turns to make sure they were clean enough to enter the spring waters but it also left them all the more keen to warm up.

Erza was quick to lead the girls to an empty onsen and both Mira and Lisanna were quick to hang their towels to the side and get into the water. The onsen itself was neither small nor large and was in fact near to the perfect size for all of them. Misty steam arose from the waters, reminding Lucy that it was going to be undoubtedly, a wonderful experience. Words could not express how good she felt when she finally stepped into the onsen and she let a loud, appreciate sigh of contentment. She loved it – she loved the feeling of heat encompassing her body.

"Ah, the water feels so good!" Lucy said loudly to the others as Cana nodded in agreement.

"Yeah, this is a new experience for me too," she said, as she sunk into the water and submerging herself up to her shoulders.

Mira and Lisanna were quick to seat themselves on the flat stony floor to the side whereas Wendy made herself comfortable in the center, and curiously to Lucy, she suddenly inhaled deeply before breathing out, looking relieved afterwards. Lucy could only assume it was some sort of breathing exercise.

"Juvia thinks this water is wonderful," the blue-haired woman said softly, immersing herself with a content look on her soft face. It seemed as if all her hesitation and doubts were taken away the moment she stepped into the water.

Just as Lucy was beginning to feel the hot water soothe her and soak into her bones, Erza was quick to stand up unashamedly among them. "Alright, now that everyone is settled, Lucy, Juvia, it's time we talked strategy about dealing with the dragon."

Lucy could only stare at her, blankly. _'I thought she wasn't_ _actually_ _serious about that…'_

"Now?" Juvia asked incredulously.

"Of course," Erza stated. "Where else would be better?"

"How about at our actual D&D games?" Lucy couldn't help but say loudly back. Erza sharply turned her head with narrowed eyes and Lucy feared she was about to get an earful.

"I agree with Lucy, Erza," Mira was quick to chime in. "Save that for your D&D night, we can talk about other things that includes all of us!"

Erza stood still for a moment in all her naked glory before eventually nodding in agreement. "Very well, I concede that it will be more inclusive for the rest of you for a different topic to be discussed."

With Erza sitting back down and the relaxing atmosphere quickly returning to the pool, Mira was quick to go ahead with starting a topic for everyone. "Hmm, Erza? How about you tell everyone about your character and why you made it?"

Talking about battle tactics for a game was one thing Lucy wasn't particularly keen to discuss in a spa but hearing more about Erza's character was something else entirely as well as highly interesting to Lucy. If the looks on Juvia's and Wendy's faces were anything to go by, she wasn't the only one either.

"Well if everyone is comfortable with that, I shall go ahead," Erza said, settling into the pool and relaxing her shoulders. "Titania is on a journey to find her friends."

"Her friends?" Wendy asked inquisitively.

"Yes, from her childhood. She was separated from them and as a result, she has vowed to become a strong warrior and discover what has happened to them."

Lucy leaned her head forward, equally as curious as Wendy, "How was she separated from them?"

"I cannot say for that is to be revealed in the campaign," Erza swiftly responded.

"Why is she named Titania?" Lisanna asked, cocking her head with interest. "It's also the name for the queen of the fairies isn't it?"

Lucy found herself speaking up without even thinking about it first, "That's true, it's from Shakespeare's play 'A Midsummer's Night's Dream'."

"Is that so?" Lisanna asked rhetorically to which Lucy nodded anyway.

"Indeed, the name originated from the play and has been used similarly in D&D too," Erza agreed. "But I didn't name my character that – Evergreen did."

"Evergreen?" Lucy echoed.

"She plays D&D on Tuesdays with the Thunder God Tribe," Mira was quick to assert. "They're a loud bunch – especially Laxus, I'm sure you'll meet them all soon."

"Eh? Why?" Lucy asked, confused as to why Mira would say that. She currently had no plans to attend anyone else's game.

"Oh… no reason!" Mira teased with that deceptively sweet smile of hers. It wasn't hard for Lucy to see that Mira had something planned but she also didn't seem like the type to just share her plans and secrets openly when she was using _that_ tone of voice.

"Juvia has a confession…" Juvia murmured suddenly, catching the attention of the girls. Juvia sat with her knees pulled to her chest, her arms wrapped securely around her legs in a gesture of vulnerability. She took a moment to look at Erza specifically before looking to Lucy, her quivering lips were a giveaway as to how nervous she was feeling.

"What is it?" Erza asked, although her voice was soft for a change and filled with concern. Lucy wondered how often that side of Erza was ever seen as she generally came across so guarded, although nowhere near to the same extent that Gajeel was.

"Juvia… Juvia joined D&D to be closer to Gray… because Lucy joined," Juvia said meekly, lowering eyes in shame for a moment. "Juvia did not want to lose Gray to Lucy."

The girls fell silent and only the gentle sounds of flowing water and faint voices from the other onsens nearby could be heard. Lucy felt incredibly awkward – just what exactly was she supposed to say to that? She could only reassure Juvia that she wasn't interested in Gray although she could definitely consider him attractive. Other than a few conversations related to D&D, they hadn't really spoken much.

"Juvia," Lucy began, looking for the right words to say to her. "I'm not your rival and… uh, well… are you having fun?"

Juvia looked up as she wore a bewildered look as to what Lucy had asked. "Juvia doesn't understand?"

Lucy tried again, making her sentence clearer this time. "Are you having fun playing with everyone in D&D?"

Juvia didn't hesitate to nod. "Yes, Juvia has a lot of fun."

"Then it doesn't matter why you joined, what matters is whether or not you like playing with us," Lucy responded, wholeheartedly believing her own words. Juvia was not always the most vocal at the table nor made the most rational of decisions, but she engaged with others well and her character came across as an extension of her own personality which was nice to see during the game. Lucy could say for sure that if Juvia were to stop playing with them now, things wouldn't feel the same.

"Lucy's right," Erza warmly confirmed. "Which reminds me… Lucy, are you feeling any better today?"

Lucy looked to Erza and thoughts about what Natsu had said about Jackal sprung to mind.

' _Don't tell Erza.'_

She felt comfortable telling Erza about hers and Natsu's encounter with Jackal now that they weren't playing D&D and even considered that Erza might even be able to help in some way. Lucy found it frustratingly annoying that Natsu hadn't given a clear reason as to why he had asked her to keep quiet about and she did toy with the idea of telling Erza regardless.

Her concerns about Tartaros were still there although she was able to rationalize her thought processes regarding all of that a bit better now. If nothing else, she would get some answers out of Natsu soon enough or perhaps she could confide in Levy later about it.

"I am, thanks Erza," Lucy ended up answering, not enjoying the fact she wasn't upfront about why she was out of sorts but she chose to trust Natsu on this.

"Was something wrong?" Cana asked, breaking into the conversation to look at Lucy in earnest.

Lucy shook her head, not wanting to get Cana involved in this as well. "I was just tired, I didn't sleep well on Friday night."

"Oh? You did seem kinda off when I saw you on Saturday morning," Cana commented suspiciously.

"Yeah, I was tired…" Lucy repeated, the guilt inside building as she purposely left out the other reasons for her weariness. She swiftly decided to change the subject before more questions were asked. She was grateful that neither Erza nor Juvia had brought up the whole 'date with Natsu' nonsense all over again. "Loke also stopped by – I feel like I kinda need to make things up to him as we've barely seen each other lately."

"Huh… I don't think he minds too much," Cana said, shrugging. "He's always doing his own thing and meeting new people."

"Maybe… but I'm trying to make things right to be sure anyway. I'm meeting Loke on Wednesday for coffee so we can catch up," Lucy answered, honestly having missed Loke's company.

Juvia cocked her head curiously, "Who is Loke?"

"He's the man that Lucy and Cana were with some weeks back at our rescheduled D&D night – that was before you joined, Juvia," Erza said, quickly answering for Lucy.

"I'm surprised you remember us," Cana said, now intently listening to the conversation.

"That's interesting… so this coffee thing, is it a date?" Juvia said, looking Lucy playfully, curiously.

Lucy shook her head, "No, it's just coffee. But he wants to change where we usually go all of a sudden… does that sound a little weird to you guys?"

"Eh, Loke can be a little spontaneous like that," Cana blithely answered.

Erza scooted towards Lucy, splashing little waves against her in the process. "Where is this new establishment that he wishes to go to?"

Lucy quickly tried to remember the name of the place, taking a moment before finding her answer. "Toma's Coffee."

Erza sat back, her lips shifting awkwardly into a sly smile, "I know the place. It's nice and serves some wonderful cakes."

Lucy felt a little relieved as she swiftly concluded that was probably the reason Loke wanted to go. Then again, perhaps he had just grown bored of their usual place to meet up. She knew it was a little silly to ponder upon and she should have just asked him why as soon as he had suggested it in his messages.

"It's also somewhat romantic with a view of the lake," Erza quickly tacked on in a teasing tone and Lucy felt her heart pound in response.

' _Romantic?'_

"You're kidding me… aren't you?" Lucy slowly asked as she observed Erza's coy grin.

"Not at all," Erza replied. "Are you romantically inclined towards your friend, Lucy?"

Lucy couldn't stop that all too familiar beet red blush returning to her cheeks. If Erza had asked her the same question two months ago, her response might have been different. Loke was… well there was no denying he was good-looking, educated and had an attractive personality. He was also charming and didn't hesitate to flirt with her on more than one occasion, even when she jestingly turned him down in what she considered was just him being playful.

In all honesty, she had always hoped to meet someone like him as he ticked so many boxes on what she thought was good boyfriend material. She had unrealistically dreamed of meeting someone akin to a prince in the old fairy tales – a knight on a white horse that was kind and chivalrous… and sort of Loke came close to that if it weren't for his womanizing. They were compatible in so many ways yet it was not only his playboy antics that left her feeling disillusioned about him, there was something else too that she couldn't put words to.

"I- uh, I'm not, no… he's a great catch for someone else maybe…" Lucy tried to answer to Erza, struggling to make her thoughts coherent. Cana curiously leaned in next to her, more than keen to see where this was going.

"You sound unsure," Erza said. "What's stopping you exactly?"

"I just… I don't- I… it's like there's something missing?" Lucy tried again to explain. She wasn't sure if it was the waters of the spa or how calm everyone was being but she felt no embarrassment in talking about this like she normally would. It was awkward but in a way, relieving too.

"Missing something? As in… what exactly? He looks like has _everything_ you need if you ask me!" Cana commented, causing Lucy to scowl at what the brunette was implying.

"I'm being serious here!" Lucy practically yelled, earning a few raised voices from the patrons in the other onsens telling her to quieten down. With a lower voice, she continued, "Loke is also… well, he's been with a lot of people. I don't think he would ever be truly… monogamous."

Immediately Erza turned her nose up, shriveling it a little and crossing her arms. "Hmph, I don't understand men like that. What is so wrong with having some loyalty and devotion to a single person?"

Lucy found that odd to hear from Erza as she was someone that Lucy didn't consider be the romantic type.

"Although I'm surprised, Lucy," Erza said in all seriousness. "I was fairly convinced you were courting Natsu and therefore would not even consider a date with Loke."

Lucy groaned, rolling her head back with a defeated look. "Not this again…" she tiredly muttered to herself.

"There's no need to be embarrassed – take Juvia for example, she's very open about her affections for Gray," Erza continued.

"Oh! It's so nice to hear my beloved name!" Juvia cooed, a fond smile embracing her delicate face.

Lucy narrowed her eyes at them. "I'm not embarrassed because once again, we're not dating and we're just friends!" She nearly shrieked, only holding herself back at the last second as she was in no hurry to be told off again by other spa-goers. She really wanted the attention away from her and if everyone wanted to discuss who likes who, she knew where to direct it. "Besides, isn't it Lisanna whose interested in him?!"

"Hmm, you make a good point, Lucy," Erza hummed before swiftly turning to an increasingly rosy-faced Lisanna sitting beside her sister. "So, Lisanna, are you courting Natsu then?"

In contrast to Lucy, Lisanna sat forward a little uncomfortably, looking to her sister briefly before clearing her throat and facing them all again with an awkward expression. "Um, it's true… I have… _did_ have a little crush on him," she said sadly, sighing a little afterwards. "But I don't think he has any such feelings towards me…"

"I'm sorry Lisanna," Mira said, placing her arm around her sister comfortingly. "I shouldn't have encouraged you as I did…"

Lucy, however, was now feeling the oddest of feelings, a combination of both relief and pity. She really did feel bad for Lisanna as it must be hard to accept when somebody doesn't reciprocate your feelings.

She herself believed that she had never experienced a serious crush on anyone in that way – the signs just simply weren't there. There was no stuttering over princely and handsome good looks or the increased beating of the heart… the supposed elation you would feel when being near the one you desire nor the obvious wanting to be around said 'crush' all the time.

' _Nope… I've never felt those at all,'_ she told herself. So why at that precise moment did her mind decide to suddenly remind her of Natsu's bright smile was an absolute mystery to her. Lucy shook her head, confused.

' _It must just be because that's who everyone is talking about.'_

Not wishing to dwell on it, Lucy decided to throw in the theory that had crossed her mind on more than one occasion. "Maybe Natsu just isn't interested in women?"

Erza snorted in obvious disagreement, "I highly doubt that, Lucy."

Lucy coked an eyebrow back, wondering what Erza knew that could disprove her suggestion.

"Natsu has shown plenty of interest in you for example," Erza said very bluntly, causing Cana to giggle incessantly and Juvia to also chortle. Lucy, however, could only look at Erza, dumbfounded at how on Earthland that she could have come to such a conclusion. Is she even talking about the same Natsu?

"W-What?" Lucy sputtered. "How?!"

Erza shrugged before speaking as if it was supposed to be general knowledge already. "Well, there's the fact he's shared his snacks with you – that was the first sign as that's very unlike him. Then there's the miniature he gave you and although this wasn't odd at first, we went a few weeks where he made no such effort to provide Juvia with a miniature."

Lucy shook her head on obvious disagreement. "That doesn't prove anything!"

Erza continued regardless. "Okay, well he also goes out of the way to protect your character in our D&D sessions and he also invited you over to his apartment – something he's rarely done for anyone else."

"He's just being a good friend and-" Lucy tried to protest but Erza simply carried on.

"Gajeel also mentioned something about you sharing a blanket-"

"Oh, yeah, I saw that too," Lisanna chimed in over Erza for a second but there was no bitterness in her voice.

"Oh, you did?" Erza asked, turning to Lisanna. "When was this?"

"Yes – it was a day where he wouldn't stop mentioning you all the time, Lucy," Lisanna said, offering a small smile but looking a little disappointed still none the less. "It's easy to see why Natsu only sees me as a friend when you put all of what Erza said together."

Before Lucy could add yet another counter-argument, Mira spoke too. "I agree with Erza on this – there's definitely something there."

Lisanna barely stifled a small laugh before speaking, "It's so rare to see you two agree on something!"

Lucy shook her head, frustrated and not understanding why they were even making these crazy observations in the first place. Whereas everything they said was in a way, true, all of Natsu's gestures were platonic and friendly. Him sharing his snacks and giving her a miniature was surely just to make her feel included in their D&D game as she was still new to it all back then. The same reasoning could be applied for his sorcerer character – he wants her to have a good experience and was just roleplaying! And she also only went to his place because the store wasn't an option at the time and she didn't own a TV. The blanket thing she couldn't find a good reason for but there was bound to be one somewhere.

' _Everything… could be explained…_ she sullenly thought.

"You're all reading too much into this," Lucy said, a little quieter and perhaps it was the tone of her voice or sudden dejected look she was displaying without even realizing it that caused her friends to go silent. All except one at least.

"Juvia thinks Lucy should definitely pursue Natsu!" The swimmer called out joyously, her face lightening up. "Juvia only wants Gray and so she would no longer have a love rival… Juvia would never pursue Lucy's beloved!"

Hearing that was the absolute last straw for Lucy. Only Wendy had not weighed in on this and for that, she was thankful that the fifteen-year-old in the group seemed so much more mature than everybody else. Lucy rubbed her fingers against her brows in frustration before letting out a sigh.

"Can you all just stop with the teasing?! We came here to relax!" Lucy asked, doing her best to keep her voice down and failing miserably.

After another round of shushing from the other onsens, Mira was first to say something. "Alright Lucy, I suppose that's fair of you to say."

It wasn't long before Cana disappeared from the waters in search of something to drink and Lucy had migrated on her own towards the back of the onsen as the remaining women chuckled among each other. She still felt a little aggravated but found those feelings were temperamental at best as she continued to try and enjoy letting the warm and soothing water soak into her skin.

As the girls continued to talk, Lucy's eyes connected with Lisanna's and unspoken words passed between them – ' _Shall we talk for a bit?'_

Lisanna waded over, taking a seat crossed-legged beside Lucy on the rim of the pool and smiled an honest smile.

"Hey, um, sorry everyone kind of ganged up on you liked that," Lisanna said meekly.

Lucy shook her head, grateful for the apology but felt it was unnecessary as at the end of the day, it was just banter and from her current viewpoint, it seemed as Erza was the one being teased now by Mira about something or other.

"You don't have to apologize Lisanna, it just feels like that's all anyone wants to talk about lately," Lucy answered, thinking back to Cana and Levy's comments earlier in the week. "I don't see why everyone is so fixated on me and Natsu all of a sudden."

Lisanna leaned back in a relaxed pose, her lips pursed in thought. "It's more about Natsu than you – he's not really, well, gotten attached to anyone like this before."

Lucy wasn't sure she saw it that way but everyone around her aside from Cana had known him much longer than she had. She wasn't even sure why Natsu would be more 'attached' to her than anyone else, especially if Lisanna was the one who revealed that she's had a thing for him.

"It doesn't bother you?" Lucy had to ask, despite what Lisanna had already said earlier.

Lisanna calmly nodded. "I thought it might but the more I think about it… the more I don't actually mind."

Silence passed between them briefly as Lucy struggled to find something to say. If Lisanna was Cana or Levy, she'd be cheering them on and telling them to not give up. She herself never ever liked to just give up on something, whether it was an essay, a friend in need or battle in D&D. This, however, felt different and although she wanted to say the words that Lisanna would surely appreciate, they felt dishonest to say.

"Natsu is just my friend," was the only thing that Lucy could manage to come up with which was both truthful and correct in her eyes. "I think everyone is just seeing something that isn't there."

Lisanna didn't say anything straight away although she looked as if she would in Lucy's eyes – as if the words were physically difficult for her to say. Eventually, she did speak again. "Well, whatever's the case, Natsu seems happy and he is still my friend which is enough for me."

Lucy nodded in agreement with her and was also about to say something similar in return if not for Wendy approaching them in a somewhat wary manner.

"H-Hey, can I join you two?" she asked, twiddling her fingers together awkwardly.

Lucy smiled at her and gestured with her hand for Wendy to join them. "Of course, we were uh, just talking about Natsu…"

Wendy lit up at the mention. "Oh, he's the best, isn't he? I've never had a brother before but I think Natsu comes pretty close to what it feels like to having one!"

"Oh? You're an only child?" Lucy asked, instantly feeling a connection from the reminder that she also had no siblings to speak of.

Wendy nodded affirmatively. "Yes… Natsu used to babysit me – he even taught me about D&D when I was twelve! Erza did as well and we had so much fun playing it whenever my mom had to work!"

Lisanna giggled beside them. "That sounds like them alright."

Wendy spoke with such pride and love for her two former babysitters that it had a way of making Lucy feel instantly more fond of her.

"That's why I came over actually, I wanted to ask you something, Lucy," Wendy said, her voice turning shy as she said her name.

Lucy replied enthusiastically and also wanting to reassure the teenager that she needn't be nervous around her. "Sure, go ahead!"

"Well um, I wanted to know if you would be okay if I joined the Fairy Tail group?" Wendy asked, her large eyes looking hopeful as she spoke.

Lucy hadn't been expecting that but had no intention of saying no. 'The more, the merrier' was something she had in mind as she readied herself to welcome Wendy gladly if everyone was okay with it. But Wendy, as far as she knew, was in the Lamia Scale group and she wasn't sure if Wendy intended to play in both of their respective campaigns at the same time.

"Of course I'm okay with you joining but aren't you with Lamia Scale?" Lucy asked.

"I am but our campaign is ending soon and we're taking a break for a while," Wendy answered her. "I play a 'Life Domain Cleric' that loves healing others and she has a tressym too, just like Natsu's character!"

The name alone of the class Wendy had mentioned made it easy for Lucy to guess that she played a devout character of sorts; a type of priest in a way.

"But there's one small problem…" Wendy said, her sudden excitement returning to anxiety again. "Everyone would need to play a bit earlier… I'm supposed to be home by nine' o'clock."

"Oh, I'm sure everyone will agree to that," Lucy said, placing her hand on timid teenager's shoulder reassuringly, already knowing that a time change wouldn't be an issue for her. "Have you asked anyone else yet?"

"Just Erza, Juvia and Gray this morning," Wendy answered. "I don't think Natsu will say no… do you think Gajeel would mind?"

Honestly, Lucy couldn't say. Gajeel intimidated her but at the same time, she suspected he had a softer side to him too. She thought that surely someone like Wendy wasn't someone he would say no to?

"I don't think so… but I for one am happy to adjust the hours we play at. We always end so late as it is already," Lucy answered, brightening Wendy's hopeful expression immediately. A part of her felt selfish too – if Wendy wanted to heal, then she could focus on doing what she wanted to do which was fighting alongside the others. Lucy recalled that one of her character's starry forms was called 'Dragon' and she was keen to give it a try although she had yet to have any spells that would benefit from her using it. She was more curious as to Natsu's reaction as soon he would hear her mention that Luna had something Dragon related.

"It's going to be nice to see you on Saturdays then," Lisanna said to Wendy. "I'm not always there but it's always fun to overhear the Fairy Tail games!"

Time passed between them with Wendy speaking about the adventures she had with her current group and how she and her best friend, Sherria, would always team up together when fighting monsters. Lucy couldn't but reflect on her own adventure so far – from the kobolds to the journey to find a dragon which was soon imminent, Lucy loved it all – even if it didn't always go to plan.

Soon, Lucy noticed Cana was still yet to return and decided to go find her, wanting to make sure she was okay. Thankfully, after Lucy had left the pool with her towel wrapped around herself, Cana was an easy find what with her sitting at the spa's bar inside the building, sipping at a glass of white wine and making conversation with the bartender present.

Lucy decided she would join Cana, wanting some one-on-one time with her friend, but she would first need to stop by her locker to check how much she money she could afford to spend via her phone.

Once she was back at her locker, she was quickly distracted from her original task by another unopened message from Natsu awaiting her.

She loaded up their conversation and whilst she was expecting Natsu to complain about food or the like, she was pleasantly surprised to see a photo instead.

It featured a large miniature on the desk in his apartment, half-painted in shades of cobalt blue and black, looking rather fearsome as it looked as if it were about to eat someone whole. Natsu included himself in the photo, smiling and giving a thumbs up with a caption attached, surprising her that his spelling was correct for once – 'We're gonna fight and take down this dragon together!'

She couldn't help but smile affectionately at the photo and was tempted to take a photo of herself back, returning his thumbs up with her own before remembering that she was currently only wearing a towel. Lucy also considered that it was probably widely frowned upon to take photos in the changing room too although it was currently empty.

She tapped out a response, telling him that the dragon looked awesome as well as stating that she couldn't wait to see the dragon that they would be facing very soon in their adventure.

Lucy went about using her banking app to check her finances whilst feeling ever so grateful that Erza had treated her as she did to this trip as her bank balance had one less zero on the end then what she originally thought she had.

' _At least it's payday next week.'_

She was about to put her phone away but found herself drawn back to Natsu's photo, taking another look to admire the dragon he was painting, at least that's what she told herself she was doing.

Quickly thinking back to the conversations she had in the onsen, Lucy closed the conversation and brought up the last one she had with Loke, re-reading the messages between them. She'd made up her mind to just ask Loke why the venue change and hopefully, it really would be a case of him just wanting to try out somewhere new with no ulterior motives behind it.

Loke ultimately was her friend and she was comfortable with that. She was hesitant at first but Lucy decided it was probably time she made it clear to him that's what they would always remain if that was alright by him. She decided that saying that over text probably wasn't idle for either of them so she would make it clear at their next meet up, wherever that would end up being at.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This probably isn't an exciting chapter for some of you but I think it was important that the girls all get on the same page on a few things. We also finally get some answers from Lisanna. Wendy eventually joining the group was planned from the start as I didn't want every character to be there to begin with.
> 
> And so to be clear, I have never been to Japan or an onsen so I did a little research on them before writing this. I also rewatched the episodes of Fairy Tail that included them bathing as well as the 100YQ chapter. If I offended anyone with the way I wrote this, I'm very sorry! It wasn't my intention.
> 
> Next Chapter: 'Natsu is a mooch' and Mira reveals her plans
> 
> D&D Terms:  
> Cleric: A class in D&D that's usually associated with religion, healing and fighting unholy/undead creatures. You can also have clerics that are melee-orientated or even drawn to necromancy.  
> 'Life Domain': Domains are the chosen path for a cleric. This domain is all to do with healing primarily.


	21. Dragon Breath Chili

**Wednesday, September 30th**

Lucy was undoubtedly nervous about meeting Loke as she gingerly approached the coffee house he had arranged to meet her at that Wednesday lunchtime. She had mentally prepared a long-winded explanation which had eventually become a speech of what she was going to tell him – that she just liked him as a friend and that was all. She was sure of it now, having had a few days to think on it and affirm what she always knew – that she just didn't feel _that_ way towards him.

She had a feeling he would keep on flirting regardless of what she said but definitely in a more jokingly jovial manner that was just a part of his amorous personality. What worried her most was how Loke would take rejection from her and how it would affect their friendship, assuming they could still maintain one.

The coffee house awaited her, with frosted glass windows and quiet atmosphere surrounding it. Lucy entered 'Toma's Coffee' and it immediately gave her a quaint impression with its more vintage design which included old teak tables, chairs and checkered tablecloths.

Loke was easy to spot, wearing his usual suit and that glossy ginger hair of his. Unfortunately, as Lucy had feared, Loke had chosen to sit at a table at the back of the room, by a window overlooking the lake.

' _It's 'romantic' was Erza's description,'_ she thought.

Lucy gave him a little a wave, catching his attention before looking over at the counter, looking at what to purchase for herself. A minute or so later after she had bought and paid for a cup of black coffee, Lucy sauntered over to Loke's table, taking the seat opposite of his and smiled tentatively, internally hoping that this was just going to be a casual friendly meet up and nothing else.

"Hey, Lucy, it's nice to finally see you in person again," Loke said, taking a sip from his cup.

"Yeah, sure is," Lucy replied nervously, looking out the window to her side and quickly spotting a pair of lovestruck swans paddling together near a patch of lilies.

' _Yep, definitely romantic.'_

"I actually wanted to ask you something," Loke began, fiddling with his tie nervously and giving her an awkward look which Lucy found to be very unlike him. He was nearly always confident and bold whenever he had anything to say.

' _He's going to ask me isn't he?'_

Lucy felt her nerves kick in as she hadn't expected it to happen so quickly. She knew she wanted romance eventually in her life. Then there was the prospect of dating someone which could lead to a steady, caring relationship was something she knew she wanted when the right person came along. But that person wasn't Loke.

"I only want us to be friends!" Lucy blurted out as Loke was about to continue with whatever he had planned to say next, causing his face to contort into a bewildered and surprised expression at her outburst.

After a moment of flushed embarrassment on Lucy's end and puzzlement on Loke's, he spoke again. "I'm sorry?" He asked in a confused manner.

Lucy hadn't meant to suddenly say it like that. She panicked, not thinking that Loke would jump straight to the point of why he had invited her there, to this idyllic location. She bowed her head down, not wanting to see his potentially hurt appearance as she tried to repeat herself more calmly. "I… uh, want us to stay friends… and that's all."

Loke sat back in his chair, his puzzled expression still clear as a day as an uncomfortable silence passed over them. It felt like minutes upon minutes passed where neither of them said anything although, in all actuality, it had probably been only a few seconds.

Then, Loke began to laugh.

Lucy looked up and wasn't sure if she felt more confused that Loke was laughing or annoyed that he found that what she had said to be hilarious somehow. She couldn't help but raise her voice sternly at him. "Why the heck are you laughing?!"

Loke's laughter died down into small chortles before he straightened his glasses, looking at her with an amused smirk.

"How long have you been thinking about this, Lucy?" He asked deviously.

"Thinking about what?" Lucy replied sharply.

"Thinking that I was going to ask you out?"

Lucy nervously gulped, realizing that perhaps she had been very, very wrong about everything. "Weren't you?"

"Well, I'm flattered that you considered that there could be an ' _us'_ at least but I've had the impression for some time that we would always remain just as friends," Loke began to explain in a smooth manner, not seeming hurt by her 'rejection' in the slightest. "Although I'm at a loss of why you thought I would suddenly make a move now?"

For once, Lucy's flushed cheeks weren't from things that Natsu naively said or from the implications that her friends made about both of them. They were beet red from pure, utter embarrassment at how incredibly awkward this meeting at just become.

' _How did I get this so wrong?'_

"Y-You invited me here? The venue change? The view?!" Lucy began to insist, hoping that Loke would at least understand why she drew such a conclusion about his intentions.

"Oh… yeah, I suppose I could have explained that better," Loke said, smiling slightly. "You see, our usual haunt… well I'm avoiding it."

"And why would you be avoiding it?" Lucy asked, finally feeling the humiliation subside just a little and taking a small swig of her coffee. "We've been meeting there for over a year."

"Well, the waitress there was quite attractive and one thing led to another and-"

"Okay, stop, I don't need to hear it!" Lucy said, looking away from him as she had no particular interest to hear about what sorts of activities he got up to in the bedroom or, knowing Loke, other places as well. "But that doesn't explain why you would be avoiding her."

Loke snorted lightly. "She wanted more than I could give… emotionally speaking, of course, I am more than capable of giving her-"

"Nope! Stop right there!" Lucy interrupted him again, looking away in shame. She didn't know whether to curse at him for his inappropriateness for talking so publicly about his… manly prowess, or at herself for getting this so very wrong.

"I feel so embarrassed… I really thought you were going to ask…" she mumbled after a moment.

"Don't be, anyone could make that mistake. I am quite the catch," Loke lightly responded. "Although if you ever do change your mind about us, I'm quite open to-"

Lucy went on to interrupt him for the third time in the span of fewer than five minutes. "Yeah, I'm good, thanks!"

Loke took another sip of his coffee, still chuckling to himself and Lucy silently berating herself for being a victim of her own overthinking yet again.

"So what were you going to ask me?" Lucy finally asked, more desperate than ever to move past this entirely embarrassing conversation.

"Oh, that…" Loke began, quickly becoming nervous again. He paused before speaking any further as if he really wasn't sure about what he was going to ask. "Is there any chance you might want to show me how this Dungeons and Dragons game of yours works some time?"

That was… not what Lucy had expected. At all.

It threw her off as Loke had more or less mocked her previously for it, stating that it was for 'nerds' but now he was suddenly interested in it? A number of questions regarding this popped into her mind and a part of her was secretly getting excited too, that her good friend was asking _her_ for advice on how to play D&D.

"I thought you wouldn't be interested in that?" Lucy asked, hoping that he really was wanting to know more about her current favorite hobby (after writing of course) and this wasn't just him trying to find a way to get into bed with a woman who was perhaps into it as well.

"Neither did I but… I kept thinking about you and your friends playing it and I've begun getting very curious," Loke explained. "I have friends that I might want to try it out with – I think you might like them by the way."

"Is that so?"

"Yes. In fact, I'm certain of it," Loke answered confidently. "Anyway, what I'm essentially asking is that you show me how the game works and maybe even consider playing it with us if it piques our interest?"

Any previous shame Lucy had been feeling abruptly vanished altogether and was replaced with a strange sort of pride. She was flattered that Loke wanted her to be involved in something she had come to love and while it was much too early to think about the logistics of it all, such as who would be the dungeon master and whatnot, her mind was already beginning to brim with ideas.

"I'd love to!" Lucy answered quite happily. She was confident that after explaining what she knew, if there were to be a new game to come out of this, she was sure she could handle playing in two different groups. She doubted anyone in the Fairy Tail group would take issue with that as long as it didn't interfere with their usual day to play.

"Do you think Cana would be interested at all?" Loke added, his expression curious.

Lucy nodded. "We should ask her for sure but I think she said she was bored when she watched me play. It's probably not her thing."

"Ah, that's a pity."

Lucy wasn't sure if she should mention that Cana also had a lot on her mind as of late as she had no idea if the woman in question had told Loke anything yet. She and her had talked briefly since their trip to the spa about it. They had decided together that ambushing her supposed father at her old school was probably not ideal and instead that they might try to catch him in the evening as he was leaving instead. Cana still had her reservations about confronting him although she wasn't exactly open about why that was. Lucy decided it was best to let Cana think on it some more before putting any such plan into action.

"Anyway, what kind of role do you think would suit me?" Loke asked, curious and giving just a hint of excitement. "If that's what it's called? You were playing as a druid if I remember rightly?"

Lucy grinned back. She had a pretty good idea in mind. "A paladin."

"Is that some sort of holy warrior?" Loke asked as he sipped at his coffee.

"Yep! You'll have radiant powers and I can definitely picture you in golden armor!" Lucy responded, her imagination going wild at all the scenarios coming to mind.

"That does sound intriguing…"

Lucy offered many different examples of the games they could potentially run combined with retelling some of her own experiences from playing with her group so far. Loke listened keenly and although she wasn't sure just _how_ interested he really was in D&D, the idea of playing in a second group was appealing more and more to her by the minute.

* * *

**Thursday, October 1st**

It wasn't long after lunch time whilst Lucy was proofreading an article that would be appearing in the back of her company's magazine when she had the unfortunate experience of dealing with Dan yet again. He had already sent out twice for coffee that morning and she dreaded him asking the same of her again for the afternoon. For once, she was glad to be doing actual work instead of being sent on errands that offered her no real work experience unless she was planning to be a barista.

"Good afternoon, Lulu!" He greeted as he practically crept up behind her as she sat at her desk, leaning over her shoulder and decreasing her comfort levels to new lows.

Lucy grit her teeth and reminded herself that by the end of spring next year, she wouldn't have to deal with this lech of a man again.

"Is there something I can do for you, Mr Straight?" Lucy asked, not hiding her annoyance at him in the slightest but it wasn't as if Dan picked up on it either.

Dan let out an exaggerated sigh and Lucy tensed as she felt his hand grip her shoulder, his fingers moving ever so slightly as if he were trying to rub gently on her skin. Lucy sucked in a breath and carefully picked up his intruding hand with her own, removing it from her shoulder before spinning around to face him.

"Mr Straight?" She repeated.

"Hmm? … Oh yes, that's right! I need you to fetch my suit from the cleaner's this afternoon, at around 2 pm."

Lucy wanted to say something along the lines of that she was there to learn how the industry works and not to be his personal assistant. She held her tongue for now but she wasn't sure for how much longer that would last. She was sincerely hoping that all of these errands was just a case of her needing to become more acquainted with the business before being given actual editorial work to do. She counted herself lucky that one of the editors on the fifth floor occasionally sent her small articles to edit from time to time.

"Yes, Mr Straight," Lucy replied with narrowed eyes but Dan merely responded by patting her on the knee which not only felt highly inappropriate but condescending too.

"Excellent! Perhaps you would consider accompanying me for a tipple this evening too? I'll even think about paying for your first drink!" Dan blithely asked her with a disturbingly hopeful expression.

Lucy raised an eyebrow at his proposal. He 'might' pay for her drink? She barely held back the sarcasm that was begging to leave her lips.

' _Wow, what a gentleman.'_

"I'm sorry Mr Straight, I have plans. I'm sure there are plenty of other women here that would love to discuss work with you over a friendly drink," Lucy answered as smoothly as she could in hoping he would take the hint that she was both looking to keep things professional and that she was also politely declining any further advances he was looking to make too. She uncharacteristically lied in that she had plans but it was the easiest excuse to make.

Dan looked deep in thought for a moment before speaking. "How about tomorrow then! We could even share a romantic meal together!"

'… _He doesn't get it at all.'_

"I'm sorry Mr Straight but I would prefer to keep our relationship strictly a professional one."

"A relationship? Already!? Why Lulu, you are positively wonderful!"

Lucy was tempted to smack her head on the side of her cubicle wall in irritation. This wasn't going anywhere and her boss was just picking and choosing what bits of her sentences he preferred, removing all context from them entirely.

Luckily, his phone rang and he had to leave to go and do his actual job instead of pestering her and every other young woman that worked this floor.

Frustrated and wanting to receive some actual feedback on her performance at her job other than if she had ordered the right coffees from the coffee shop a few buildings away, Lucy abruptly left her desk, her swivel chair still spinning as she walked away from her cubicle.

She sought out the one person at her internship that was both kind and helpful to her although they were neither her boss nor supervisor.

Lucy passed many cubicles, most of them were her female co-workers all happily sipping on the coffees that _she_ had gone and fetched. Lucy frowned when she overhead two of them gush over how lovely Dan was to have gone out and bought them all coffees himself.

The cubicle she searched for was far from hers, near a corner of the office floor but it also offered a modicum of privacy. Lucy practically stomped up to it, the woman sitting inside sitting up with her short white hair and quizzical stare.

"Lucy? What's wrong?" She asked, bring her hands to her lap as she turned in her chair to face her.

"Dan."

The woman sighed understandingly. "Yeah, he's been particularly bad today, hasn't he?"

Lucy stepped in and lightly leaned on the wall of the cubicle, careful not to push it over entirely. "What he's doing has got to be sexual harassment or something, Yukino!"

"I know – HR has investigated him twice already but nothing has come of it yet."

Lucy was glad that at least she had at least one person at her job who understood why Dan was such pain to have around. Yukino was calm, collected and cared for her work which Lucy highly respected. She was currently the only reason that she didn't see this internship as one massive waste of coffee-collecting time.

"I take it you want me to have a look at some work you've done?" Yukino asked, turning back to her monitor and using her mouse to bring up a digital copy of the October edition of the magazine.

"Yeah… Dan's not given me any feedback. I wanted to know if the edits I made to the article on page 77 were okay?" Lucy shyly and somberly answered. She knew she shouldn't have to come to Yukino about this and take up her time just to know if she was making any improvements in her skills as a writer… or editor in this case.

Yukino skipped ahead to the page in question, stopping at an article that was by no means, anything eye-catching or covered any major events on the fashion industry. It was just a simple piece about cotton sustainability that Lucy honestly believed that the magazine should probably have more of a focus on.

"Oh, I read this one recently," Yukino immediately commented. "I didn't know you had a hand in it."

"I just corrected some of the grammar," Lucy replied, not wanting to take credit for someone else's work. "… and made it a bit smoother to read."

"I would have had to know how it read before you made any changes but I didn't spot any problems when I previously read it," Yukino explained, closing the browser tab. It was then that Lucy spotted what Yukino had been looking at prior to her coming to ask for feedback. It was easy for her to recognize, being a somewhat regular visitor to that particular website herself.

"You read 'The Celestial King'?" Lucy commented causing to Yukino to look up at her in surprise.

"Yes… I like to read my horoscope there," Yukino meekly answered. Lucy could understand why as admitting to taking star signs a bit more seriously than most would often get you ridiculed. It wasn't until she met Loke that she learned to accept that it was perfectly okay to be interested in all of that.

"Me too!" Lucy said with vigor. "It's more accurate than so many others!"

Yukino's expression changed from nervous to pleased as she nodded in agreement. "Yes, I've been reading it for years for that very reason."

As Lucy was about to ask what zodiac sign she was, her cell phone buzzed in her pocket to the sound of an email arriving. Normally she'd go to check it whenever she wasn't busy as a lot of the time it would just be spam, however, when she was working, she could almost guarantee that they would be memos from Dan with some nonsense or other. She would then have to check them promptly or face dealing with his unwarranted behavior at her cubicle once more.

Curiously, Yukino's PC chimed as well with the sound of an email arriving in her own inbox, more or less within seconds of Lucy receiving her own. Yukino didn't work directly under Dan so it was unlikely she had received the same email from him and for the most part, he didn't pay her nearly as much attention as every other woman on the floor.

' _A strange coincidence,'_ Lucy thought.

"Oh, um, I just need to read this," Yukino said, looking back to her PC.

"Yeah, me as well," Lucy answered, taking her phone out from her skirt pocket and grimacing at the thought of having to read more of Dan's drivel. To her delight, the email awaiting her was not from Dan but Mira, mysteriously titled 'Tournament Announcement'.

Lucy decided to peek a quick glance at her co-worker's screen out of interest to see if the email awaiting her was the same but it looked as if Yukino had already closed it. Lucy wasn't even sure why she thought it would be the same email – Yukino had never shown any interest in the fantasy genre, let alone D&D.

Yukino looked back up at Lucy from her chair, visibly more distracted now. "I'm sorry, Lucy, I have to make a few calls. I can have a look at any more of your work later this afternoon if you need me to."

Lucy nodded in agreement. She was curious to read Mira's email herself anyway. "Yeah, sure thing."

Lucy made her way back to her cubicle, thankfully Dan was nowhere to be seen. A yellow sticky note had been dropped onto her keyboard when she returned which simply stated _'Please fetch some more toilet paper for the restroom_ _s_ _on_ _fourth,_ _t_ _hanks.'_

Lucy couldn't wait to get back to college to start on her final year soon enough and get away from these menial tasks she was forever being assigned. She ignored the note, tossing it aside into her wastepaper pin before sitting down at her desk and loaded up her personal email account on her computer's browser.

Upon opening up Mira's email, she was both perplexed and astonished at its contents.

' _The Strauss Games and Hobbies Store welcomes you to this year's special event – the Grand Tournament!'_

Lucy was unsure of what exactly she was reading but recalled that this might be what Mira had hinted towards last Sunday. She carried on reading, ready to close her email at any second should Dan come to pester her again.

' _October 31st is a time for frights and delights but here at Strauss Games, we welcome challengers to compete for a grand prize on this haunting evening!_

_All D &D players can compete in their groups in a serious of challenges that will determine who shall be our almighty champion!'_

The email contained more, but Lucy instinctively closed the email as soon as she heard footsteps near her cubicle. To no surprise, it was Dan, back again with his suave smile and he stepped inside, leaning over Lucy's shoulder uncomfortably again.

"Up for another coffee run, Lulu?" He asked in what Lucy assumed was supposed to be a husky voice but it only came off as obnoxious. Lucy held back a groan and reluctantly nodded.

She would just have to read the rest of the email later.

* * *

Lucy could feel the chill in the air as she approached her apartment, a cold reminder that October had arrived and she would have to think about heating her home pretty soon – yet another bill to consider in her already small budget.

She was currently staring at her phone, a little annoyed that she had left a question in the D&D group chat asking what the email from earlier was about and nobody had responded to her thus far. It wasn't particularly surprising as everyone was probably working or preoccupied with their own lives to look at the chat.

It was only when she went inside her building's lobby, climbed the first flight of stairs and slid her key into her apartment's lock that she noticed something alarming.

It wasn't locked.

Panic swept across Lucy's being as she froze in place at the thought that somebody had broken into her apartment and in the worst-case scenario, was still inside. She very slowly pulled her arm back to place her key back into her bag without a sound. She stayed as quiet as she could, alert and listening for sounds of movement within.

She began rapidly rummaging around for her phone as thoughts of calling the police rushed to her head. Her fingers, finding it, wrapped around it and clenched it tightly. She felt her hand twitch as she brought it out and prepared to call the emergency number.

She suddenly halted after she tapped in the first two digits.

' _What if it's Jackal?'_

The police had yet to get back to her about the incident on Friday and she was starting to wonder if that gang had something to do with it. The police were always quick to respond when she lived in Crocus… although it was easy to see why when her father had so much clout there. She cursed at herself when she remembered that she hadn't even spoken properly to Natsu about why Erza couldn't know about Jackal yet, the thought slipping her mind entirely after her trip to the spa.

She hastily put her phone back at a quick realization.

A police report with her name attached to it – why had it not occurred to her before? If her father caught wind that she was in any potential danger here, he'd be forcing her back to her former home in a moment's notice. She wished she could say that it was because he cared about his daughter deeply but Lucy suspected it would just be used as another excuse for him to exert control.

Lucy had still yet to hear anything and wondered if she was overreacting. She did want to cut down on all the overthinking she had been doing as of later after all. Perhaps she had just forgotten to lock her front door this morning?

Her hand roamed around in her bag for her second choice of defense – pepper spray. She'd started carrying some ever since Saturday night.

She really hoped no one was in there and if in the case that there was, she could at least spray them and run. Hesitantly, she placed her hand on the handle and pulled it down, the door opening with an ominous creak. She realized at that moment that perhaps she should have called somebody – Natsu, Erza, Loke, Gray, she would have bet that any one of them would have turned up should she have called for it.

' _Too late now.'_

With the pepper spray firmly in hand, she pushed the door fully open to take a step into her apartment, noting that some of the lights were on. They hadn't been on when she had left for work that morning.

"Yo!"

Lucy jumped, dropping the pepper spray, not realizing how on edge she truly felt.

Her fears weren't unjustified of course, but she couldn't help and feel silly when she turned to see Natsu, on his phone, sitting cross-legged and blissfully unaware in the armchair in her living room that he had just let himself into someone else's home – essentially what was breaking in.

"Natsu?!" She shrieked, bewildered, flustered, aggravated – she didn't know what she was but she was certainly annoyed above all else.

"Yeah?" Natsu obliviously asked, sitting back and slipping his cell into his pant pocket.

"What are you doing in my apartment?!" Lucy asked, dropping her bag to the floor and crossing her arms at him angrily.

"Your door was unlocked so I figured you wouldn't care if I waited for you inside," Natsu answered with a shrug. "What kind of weirdo doesn't lock their door when they leave anyway?"

"I do lock my doors!" Lucy said, closing her front door and turning the latch. She was annoyed, sure, but now she wasn't entirely certain on whether she had forgotten to lock-up this morning or if something more sinister was afoot. She had been in a hurry after oversleeping after all.

"That still doesn't explain why you're here!" Lucy said loudly, marching forward and jabbing him in his chest with her finger.

"Sheesh, you have a bad day or somethin'?" Natsu replied, gently smacking her hand away. "I came over to tell you about Mira's email."

"Why couldn't you have just replied to me in the D&D chat?" Lucy asked, moving away from him to sit on her couch, still frowning at her friendly intruder.

"It would take too long to type it out," Natsu answered. "Besides, I know my spelling sucks."

Lucy dropped her frown to something more sympathetic. She didn't think Natsu cared too much about that but the fact that he mentioned it must mean it was something he thought about. She was tempted to say something reassuring but she wasn't sure what that would be exactly.

"You could have at least said that you wanted to come over," Lucy pointed out to him.

"I suppose I coulda, didn't really occur to me though," Natsu replied, unbothered. "I'm also hungry."

Lucy looked at him, her eyes returning to a sharp glare at the audacious implication he was suggesting.

"So, let me get this straight, Natsu," Lucy said through gritted teeth. "You practically break into my place and now you're expecting me to feed you?"

Lucy found that she was unable to maintain her annoyed expression or tone once Natsu's eyes connected with hers and he nodded sincerely at her with a smug smile. "Yeah! We can have anything you want! I'll even help you make it… I'm not good at cooking anything but I can cut up stuff."

"You don't cook?" Lucy asked, understanding why his fridge had been so empty at his place. Did that mean he only ate takeout or mooched food from others?

"I can cook chili – it's real easy to make," Natsu answered whilst still looking at her expectantly. He was beginning to remind her of her mother's former maid, Spetto and her cat. That pet would always turn up in the kitchen with big wide eyes and make cute whining sounds until it received some dinner. Lucy wasn't seeing much of a difference between that cat and Natsu right now.

' _He can cook chili can he?'_ Lucy thought, with a devilish smirk gracing her face as an idea came to mind.

"Then that's exactly we're going to have – and since I don't know how to make it, you can cook for me!" Lucy declared, eagerly awaiting to see how he'd respond that. After all, he did say it could be anything she wanted and she was feeling fairly tired after her day at work.

Natsu offered her an odd look, seemingly to try and find a way to turn this back on her in some way, his face pulling into a thoughtful expression as he held his thumb to his chin in contemplation. Lucy was feeling pretty proud of herself, having tricked the trickster into doing something for her… so why did she not like the way he was now suddenly grinning?

"Alright, deal!" Natsu said loudly, jumping up and making his way over to her front door.

"Huh? Where are you going?" Lucy blurted out, confused as to why he was suddenly choosing to leave.

"To go get the stuff we need?" Natsu said, stopping to pull out his wallet briefly to check the contents before putting it back.

' _Oh, well that makes sense – it's not like I have the ingredients on hand… wait,_ _how_ _does he know that?'_

Lucy dashed forward, stopping Natsu from leaving by slamming her palm against her front door. "Did you go through my fridge?"

Natsu cocked his head before offering an impish smile. "Maybe."

Lucy frowned once more, not appreciating his behavior after already inviting himself over. She was in half-a-mind to kick him out for being so inconsiderate as to go through her private belongings. Then it occurred to her that if he went through her fridge, maybe he touched her writing notes too? Did he go on her work laptop which she had left behind on her desk today?

"My notes – did you go through my notes?" Lucy asked, her tone more serious now as her eyes widened that he might have messed them up or even read her unfiltered, unfinished manuscript.

"Nah, you got funny about that last time," Natsu replied, taking a step closer towards her and reaching for the door. His arms brushed against hers, reminding her of just how warm he felt and causing her to stop blocking his exit. "I'll be back in ten."

Lucy didn't even try to tell him to just go home instead and to not barge in on her space again as he left although she was tempted. She found herself rushing over to her desk just to be sure he was being truthful. She pulled open the first drawer and breathed a sigh of relief that her notebook and papers were precisely as she left them, neatly stacked together.

A moment later and she was silently berating herself for overreacting. Natsu wasn't so cruel as to purposely mess with what she treasured most in her whole apartment. She didn't even question why she thought he even would – perhaps it was just her general anxiety about anyone reading her writing without her say so. Levy was trusted more than anyone else and she wasn't sure what Natsu would make of what she had written so far. She had certainly written a rather lengthy description of his character in the story she had – inadvertently making him the main character in the process.

Feeling incredibly unsettled, she took a deep breath to calm herself down and realizing how worn out she really was from the day. A piping hot bath was tempting but not with Natsu returning at any moment. She could put the latch back on and lock him out but frankly, she was sort of keen to put him to the task of making her some food and well, he was good company. Better than just good company even. But Natsu had apparently also come here with another purpose.

' _The email!'_

Lucy pulled out her desk chair, taking a seat and opening her laptop. It took a while to boot up which only made her more impatient. After a few minutes of waiting and tapping her foot aggressively on the floor, she was finally able to look at her personal emails and find the one that Mira had sent.

She re-read through the first section but had trouble ascertaining much more information from it. The rules listed afterwards didn't help much either – everyone was to play a character of equal level, one magic item each to be drawn randomly at the start of the tournament and no spying on the other teams to get an edge in the competition.

Lucy could understand why Natsu had chosen to talk to her in person about it instead of messaging her. Another rule she spotted was not only was the event was taking place on Halloween, but Mira was also requesting everyone wear a costume too. She didn't happen to have any costumes just lying around so that was something she would have to think about as well if she were to attend.

She was about to have a good read of the prize when she heard the front door opening behind her, drawing her attention away and seeing Natsu return with several ingredients in his arms as he awkwardly tried to stop them from falling to the floor. Evidently, he chose to forgo using a shopping bag.

"Lucy, I'm back!" He called.

A more mischievous part of Lucy wanted to sit and watch Natsu struggle to not drop everything he was holding after he had barged his way into her place earlier but she also wasn't keen to see a packet of beef mince explode across her living room floor either.

She got up and walked over to Natsu who was using his foot to kick the front door shut behind him. Lucy reached out and plucked a few of the ingredients from his arms – tins of tomatoes, a packet of some sort of steak and an onion to be precise.

"Whatcha doing?" Natsu asked, turning away from her and continuing his trek to the kitchen with his arms full of the remaining ingredients. "You don't have to grab anything, I've got this."

' _Men… they always have something to prove,'_ Lucy thought as she eye-rolled at him.

"Why didn't you use a bag to carry all of this like a normal person?" Lucy then teasingly asked as she followed him, dropping what she had grabbed onto the side of her kitchen counter.

"I thought I could manage fine on my own with just this," Natsu responded, also dropping the ingredients and watching several loose chili peppers nearly roll into the sink. "See, everything's fine."

Lucy shook her head at him and went into the bottom kitchen cabinet where she kept her pots and pans. She assumed that chili would need a pot so she grabbed an old cast iron one that she had picked up at a used goods store from when she first moved to Magnolia. After placing it on the side as Natsu began to remove the various ingredients from their packaging, she grinned devilishly at him. "I'll leave this all to you then?"

Natsu grinned back, again in a way that unsettled her. "Yep!"

He was up to something, she knew it. Her eyes darted around the kitchen, then over to Natsu who was roughly peeling the skin off the onion with his tough fingers before finally looking over what he had bought.

She wasn't familiar with making chili, that was true. She had only eaten twice maybe since leaving her father's mansion but she wasn't completely naive. She knew it was a meaty type of stew that sometimes had beans, sometimes not and that it was also spicy- _then_ _it clicked._

Her eyes focused in on the discarded packets of chili peppers by the sink, narrowing in on the spiciness levels indicated on the labels.

' _Extra Spicy', 'Super Hot', 'Over 1 Million on the Scoville Scale!'_ were just a few of the advertised levels.

"What's wrong?" Natsu not-so-innocently asked, grabbing one of the peppers and taking a bite into it, completely raw, like some kind of madman.

Lucy gasped at his willingness to just chew on a chili pepper and proceed to look as if it didn't affect him in any way whatsoever.

"You just…" Lucy murmured at him, pointing at him in disbelief that he could just simply eat something so spicy without even sweating just a little.

"They've got a nice kick to 'em!" Natsu said, turning back to the countertop and opening a drawer to fetch a chopping board. The fact he knew where to look suggested to Lucy that he had explored more than just her fridge in the kitchen. "Anyway, I've gotta chop these up for the chili so-"

Lucy was swift to cut him off there and then. "No way am I eating something that hot!"

"You said you wanted chili so-" Natsu began to say, putting on an innocent act and his mischievousness returning which implied he knew exactly what he was doing.

"Did you get any chili peppers that weren't so hot?" Lucy asked, the desperation coming through of not wanting something so spicy to touch her tongue.

"Hmm, I'm not sure, Lucy!" Natsu said. He was an obvious bad liar. "I guess we're just gonna have to make this together to make sure we get the spiciness just right!"

' _So that's his game, huh?'_

Begrudgingly, Lucy didn't see an easy way out of this. If she left him to it, he would probably throw in a few of those chili peppers that probably came from the hottest plain in existence. Grumbling, she had to admit defeat and went about grabbing another chopping board so she could join in with the cutting up of ingredients.

Despite feeling played by the pink-haired nuisance beside her, as she began to cut in the onion he had peeled and he, in turn, moved onto cutting up the meat. Even though she grimaced when the stinging session from the onion hit her eyes, there was something about just making food together felt natural. Although eventually, she did have to find a dish towel to wipe her eyes with.

Lucy began talking about her day, ranting about Dan's stupid tasks for a while and even though telling Yukino about him was fairly stress relieving for her, there was something so easy about explaining it to Natsu, who seemed to just nod along with what she was saying. Natsu, in turn, talked about where he learned to make chili and as expected, it was from a recipe he had used to make with his dad when he was younger – the 'Famous Dragneel Dragon Breath Chili'.

"You should have seen Gray's face when I got him to try some!" Natsu commented, smiling at the fond memory. "He was practically begging for ice!"

Lucy felt bad for Gray, she really did, but she couldn't help but giggle at the image in her mind.

In the end, after a brief debate about how spicy the meal should be, they had to settle on cooking two separate pots of chili with different levels of spice attributed to them.

"Now what?" Lucy asked, washing her hands in the sink as Natsu placed the lids on the pots.

"We leave it to cook for ages," Natsu answered, looking fairly accomplished about what they had made together. "Wanna go over the email now?"

"Yeah… I'm not sure what this 'tournament' is exactly."

They returned to the living room, Lucy fetching her laptop and placing on the coffee table before taking a seat on the couch facing it. Natsu, not favoring the armchair for once, took a seat beside her to look at the screen with her too. His thigh brushed against hers and Lucy scooted a little further away from him, not wanting the daft things that her friends suggested about her and Natsu to get into her head again this time.

"Okay, so, Mira does this thing every year in the store that supposed to be fun and gets lots of new people interested in tabletop games," Natsu started explaining, scrolling down her email on the laptop. "Our group versus other groups is usually the theme."

Lucy, a little taken aback from Natsu's sudden calm and more serious manner listened with keen interest. She figured that's what the email was getting at but she wanted to know how it was supposed to all work specifically.

"You can make a new character or bring Luna – it won't change our adventure or nothin'" Natsu continued, scooting a little closer to Lucy which she noticed but was convinced he wasn't aware of it himself. She didn't pay it any mind, her friends were completely wrong about them.

"Right, so I can bring Luna to the tournament and she will represent our group? Do we fight together or as a group? Do I have to fight other people's characters?" Lucy said, unable to hold back the questions that kept popping into her head.

"Probably, it's a tournament!" Natsu said, that familiar gleam in his eyes prevalent at the thought of having a make-believe battle against the other groups. "But Mira likes to put in other things too so it's kinda a surprise."

"What about Gray?" Lucy asked, confused as to how he fits into these plans.

Natsu raised an inquisitive eyebrow at her question. "What about him?"

"He's a dungeon master, he doesn't have a character."

Natsu sat back, a little more relaxed with a smirk on face. "He'll have to make a character 'cause Mira's basically the dungeon master for this."

"You look weirdly happy about that," Lucy commented, nudging him a little with her arm in a playful manner without really thinking about it.

"I can't wait to fight him!" Natsu said, clenching his fists.

Lucy snorted a little. "I thought you said it's team-based."

"I still wanna fight him!"

Lucy shook her head at his silliness, offering a small smile. She didn't quite understand how he could be so carefree after the events of last weekend and she had also noticed he was no longer flinching from his bruise anymore. The last time she had asked him in messages, he said it was healing up just fine. A part of her wanted to be sure and she couldn't help but feel a little tempted to just turn from where she sat and lift up his shirt slightly to take a peek.

' _I'm just being concerned for his well-being is all.'_

She restrained herself, of course, instead, looking back to the email and waiting for Natsu to scroll a little further down.

"What about the prizes?" Lucy asked, remembering she had yet to have the chance to have a look at them.

"Oh yeah!" Natsu responded, eagerly scrolling down. "There's three on here."

"Is one of them jewels?" Lucy asked, leaning forward, hopelessly and foolishly wanting to hear a yes. It wasn't likely as Mirajane probably wanted any funds the event made to go to the store. Besides, she knew well that a monetary incentive can bring out the worst in people. Still, it would have been nice to have something to put into her non-existent savings.

"Nope. Uh, one of them is a date with Mira?" Natsu said although it was more of a confused question than anything else. Lucy had to lean in close to make sure that he had read it correctly as there was no way Mira would-

"Oh wow, she really is offering herself as a date!" Lucy said loudly, surprised that it was what it actually said. She hadn't thought Mira to be the type to do such a thing and a part of that just seemed a little well… wrong in Lucy's eyes. On the other hand, Mira has shown she was not a woman to mess with and the winner would be from one of the trusted groups.

' _I wonder if Mira has anyone she's hoping for in particular?'_

Lucy's eyes darted over to Natsu, the thought crossing her mind that he could take that 'prize'. Heck, that sounded so wrong to just think about for a whole myriad of reasons. Lucy wasn't enjoying the way that Natsu was suddenly hyper-focused on the email, as if he were contemplating on whether he should take the date option. It shouldn't bother her, she knew it shouldn't. But it did. She didn't even understand why it did.

"The next prize is a free supply of snacks on the winner's game night for a whole year!" Natsu suddenly blurted out, sitting back with a bright smile.

' _Well, that explains why he was so focused on it for a second there.'_

"That seems… brave of Mira," Lucy said, wondering what Mira had in mind if Natsu won and opted for that prize. He would surely make her go bankrupt within weeks of winning. There had to be some small print attached to that somewhere.

"I'm taking that for sure!" Natsu affirmed, looking over to the kitchen briefly at the simmering pots of chili.

"What's the last option?" Lucy asked, peering back at the email. Neither of the prizes presented to her so far was appealing so she was hoping for something interesting. A gift card to one of her favorite stores perhaps? A basket of bath bombs and soaks? Even a D&D book collection would be nice to have although she suspected most of the players at the store would have those already.

"It's uh," Natsu began, leaning in as well. "Four tickets to Ryuzetsu Con – that's probably the biggest prize."

"Ryuzetsu Con?" Lucy asked, not understanding any of the words that he had just said.

"Yeah, you know Ryuzetsu Land?" Natsu asked to which Lucy nodded. Of course she did, it was a large water park in Crocus. Although she had never been as it had been built long after her mother had passed and her father wasn't about to let her go to mingle with the 'commoners' there.

"Well, there's like a big convention place next to it which is where it is. It's like a big event at the end of November with anime, video games, tabletop, fantasy – nerd things," Natsu carried on although he spoke in vague terms.

"You've never been?" Lucy asked, turning her head to face him and jolting a little back when she realized how close they had gotten after leaning in to read the email together.

"Nope, never had a reason to."

"But it sounds like something you would enjoy," Lucy commented back.

"Yeah, but tickets are pricey and it's over in Crocus which means ugh, transport. Four tickets wouldn't even be enough for all of our group to go."

Lucy conceded to that. "Yeah, I suppose you're right."

Natsu quickly brought the conversation back to the tournament. He generally seemed very excited for it by Lucy's account. He explained that in past events, there had been a tier system, a magic only battle and even a scavenger hunt at one point. On the topic of how often he and by extension, team Fairy Tail, actually win, he looked a bit sheepish before answered that Sabertooth or the 'Thunder 'whatever' group' usually won.

"We've got you this year though, Lucy!" Natsu quickly followed it up with. "I bet you'll make all the difference!"

This time around, Lucy didn't look for a deeper meaning in what he was saying. She was just happy to hear that he had so much confidence in her. She was certain she had learned her lesson about reading into what people said sometimes and she wasn't particularly keen to repeat another incident of misunderstandings like the one she had with Loke the day before.

The chili continued to stew and Lucy considered it best to try to entertain Natsu somewhat in the meantime. The best she could come up with was to use his Netflix account (an expense she didn't need) on her laptop and find something to stream.

It was awkward for several reasons – there was a tiny screen for the two of them which was perfectly 'doable' but they both had to move to sit on the floor with their backs against the bottom of the sofa as to not crane their necks while watching. Then, there was the not-so-fast internet connection in the apartment. They settled on watching 'The Dragon Prince', something that Natsu hadn't seen yet and was more than happy to give it a go from its name alone although Lucy was convinced it was for a younger audience as it was animated.

What was awkward was how they would have to let each episode buffer for five minutes at the start due to Lucy's slow internet connection, leaving them to make small conversation. However, after two episodes, it didn't even feel awkward to Lucy anymore as she found she liked discussing each episode with him.

The chili was eventually done and Lucy went about serving it up, not trusting Natsu to give her the non-spicy portion nor to make a mess in her kitchen.

With another episode ready and despite her initial misgivings about Natsu's cooking, the chili was actually really tasty. Natsu did try to sneak in a little of his own into her bowl but her perception paid off, catching him in the act.

"Come on, just try a little!" Natsu insisted, raising his spoon of chili to her lips.

"NO!" Lucy shrieked, whilst trying to simultaneously bat him away without making him drop chili on her or her floor. The thought that his lips had been on that very same spoon didn't even cross her mind.

"It's not even that hot!"

"Cut it out, Natsu!"

Many episodes later, Lucy was definitely feeling tired but contently happy. She hadn't even remembered to ask Natsu about Erza as she was far too content on just enjoying his company. It seemed only natural for her at that point to give Natsu the option of staying over on the couch again if he wanted to – it was late after all.

He took the offer without any hesitation. It was two in the morning by the time either of them went to sleep, having binge-watched the first season of their chosen TV show together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was originally ridiculously long so upon reviewing it and the plot outline, I omitted a good chunk from a part of it as it worked better to appear later in the story anyway.
> 
> I've not had chilli very often in my life but the recipe I've used is 'Dragonbreath Chili' from the World of Warcraft cookbook and its name seemed appropriate to use for this chapter. 
> 
> The next set of chapters are a bit D&D heavy – lots of things happening!
> 
> Anyway, I hope you all liked this chapter!
> 
> Next Chapter: We return to Natsu's POV! It's time to meet the dragon in D&D and Lucy finally mentions 'Levy' to a certain someone…


	22. Chapter 22

**Saturday, October 3rd**

Normally, Natsu would already be at Strauss Games, entertaining himself with games or the company of others for at least an hour or two before D&D was due to begin. It had always been a great way for him to chill after working with Metal Head all week as well as giving him a break from investigating into Igneel's disappearance whereabouts, however futile it appeared to be. Gray would usually be there early to set up the game for the evening and he could catch up with him for a while before they would inevitably find something to argue about.

Today, however, was different. Instead of following his usual route of back alleys until he eventually reached the store, he opted to take a different route – to Lucy's place. He didn't know if she'd even be there although he'd come to learn that Lucy was dedicated enough to D&D that she was unlikely to miss a session so he'd always see her there if not. He didn't even know why he felt like he wanted to be over at her place instead of the store for a change; he knew that he just did and he was always one to follow his whims.

It always bought a smile to his face when he thought about telling Lucy all about his thoughts relating to D&D, although why she didn't take him seriously on some of his ideas was still a mystery to him. What was dumb about having Happy fly his character around so he could engage in fiery aerial combat in the sky with a dragon anyway? It looked awesome in his head.

He was also growing ever more curious about Lucy's novel too. She had accidentally mentioned that his character was in it and it was taking every fiber of his being to not go and take a peak. If it wasn't for her getting so defensive over her writing, there would be nothing stopping him. Instead, he held out hope that she might decide to tell him about it at some point or maybe even read some of it to him. Even though Lucy normally talked a lot and sometimes he couldn't help phasing her out if she started going on about fashion or makeup, when she was reading out loud, it felt really nice to listen to her voice filled with so much passion for it.

Reaching the bridge, he knew it wouldn't take long to reach Lucy's place, having become very used to the directions to take by now. The route had also remained 'Tartaros Free' since he last saw Jackal, as he expected it would when he concluded that Jackal didn't follow them that night.

At first, he was anxious to know if Jackal would retaliate against Lucy _specifically_ in some way but after a week, it seemed as if his observations from his previous school days still remained true… that Tartaros had left him alone and Lucy was probably safe.

Natsu didn't really know why that was. It always went that if 'someone' from Tartaros messed with him, nothing else would come of it and that 'someone' would avoid him. Natsu didn't dwell on it. He didn't know how their dumb gang worked and he didn't really care to either. If they had nothing to do with Igneel and if they weren't harming his friends, he stayed outta their way and they seemed to stay out of his.

He reached Lucy's small apartment block in what he considered to be a new record time. It didn't even occur to him to knock first when he reached her front door; he went straight for the door handle and swung it open upon finding that it wasn't locked and that she had left the latch off, announcing himself loudly so she wouldn't freak out.

"Hey, Lucy! Wanna hang out!?"

He quickly spotted her sitting at her desk with her laptop open, drawing him to the conclusion that she was currently in the middle of typing something. She swung around abruptly, wearing a surprised look on her face.

"Natsu! Did you barge in here… again!?"

Ignoring her silly question that obviously didn't need an answer, he repeated himself. "Wanna hang out? We could go over to the store early and play something maybe? … and we can see what food Mira's got for sale today!"

"D&D doesn't even start for three hours yet!" She rebuked, crossing her arms defiantly.

"And?"

She grumbled incoherent words under her breath, low enough that his hearing could catch any of them at all. Sensing that perhaps she wasn't in a good mood but stilling wanting to really hang out with her, he had to find a way to coax her into it.

"Okay, how about we go do something you wanna do? Wanna go shopping?" He asked, not even questioning why the heck he'd freely volunteer to go shopping with her. Who knows what boring places she might want to go to then… then again, she had a special habit of making things fun for him in one way or another.

She said nothing for a moment, instead, she looked at him in a mixture of apprehension and surprise. Natsu already could guess what she was doing – thinking about it too much. She really needed to try and just _do_ things instead of planning it out for once.

He approached her, determined to get her moving instead of contemplating and he placed his hands on her shoulders, pleased that she wasn't flinching or tensing up anymore like she had been all last week whenever he went near her. He didn't know what was up with that but was mostly just glad that she stopped it. "Come on, let's just go do anything."

He watched her expression quickly change to a much happier one as she appeared to study his face curiously as if she was expecting to find something. What that was exactly didn't really matter to him either, he liked that she just looked happier – everything was always better when she was smiling.

"Sure thing, Natsu."

Naturally, he went to go take a seat on that comfy armchair of hers while she fussed about what to wear in her bedroom. She had already been wearing shorts and t-shirt when he came inside the apartment, which he thought was fine but for some reason, she insisted she needed to wear something else instead as she was going outside. One outfit change later and she was wearing a skirt with stockings – not that he thought she'd be any warmer in that but what did he know? He never had a problem with staying warm.

With no set destination in mind, they left her apartment and began to walk side by side. He started telling her about the prank he'd pulled on Gajeel the day before, the result causing a box of nuts and bolts to explode all over the office in the workshop. He had to tidy it all up but it had been worth it.

Lucy giggled a little, causing him to involuntarily grin back. He continued to blabber about his week and he figured she was listening. She didn't say anything for a little while but when she did, he realized that their conversation was going to take a more serious turn.

"Why didn't you want me to tell Erza about Jackal?"

Natsu abruptly stopped walking, his expression turning a little forlorn as he thought about how to answer her. It wasn't a conversation he had expected to have and not one he was looking forward to either although he knew he'd said he'd tell her.

The truth was is that he saw Erza as like an older sister – in fact, he'd probably given a lot of his friends sibling-like qualities over the years after having grown up on his own with Zeref no longer in his life. Out of all his friends thought, Erza was the only one he had felt like he had failed in some way.

Lucy, noticing that he had stopped walking, stopped as well before turning to him with expectant eyes.

"Erza gets really… mad about Tartaros coming after any of us," Natsu tried to explain, unsure of how to really explain it all easily. Everyone he knew had to deal with that gang at some point or another. He decided to go with what he had already figured out. "For some reason, Tartaros leaves me alone most of the time. It's kinda rare that Jackal would wanna fight."

Lucy narrowed her eyes, now looking annoyed at him. "But he _did_ want to fight and now I'm concerned that he'll do _something_."

Natsu wanted to ask what that would be exactly but he held his tongue, not wanting to see Lucy start worrying all over again.

"I don't think he will," Natsu continued, hoping to at least put her mind at ease a little. He had no way of knowing for sure what was running through Jackal's head but he reckoned that Jackal probably went back to his boss, something would've happened between them and Jackal wouldn't do anything more. It was odd but every one of his run-ins with Tartaros had ended that way so far. "Tartaros never comes after me – someone keeps them from doing it I think."

Lucy placed her hands on her hips in a way that said she was gonna need more than just that as an explanation.

Natsu went on to describe several instances where he had an altercation or just an argument of receiving veiled threats with some of their members – all leading to said members never coming back for a second round. Jackal had been the first to do so but perhaps that was because it had been a few years since he'd seen him.

At the end of it all, Lucy shook her head. "You've never thought it was kind of weird?" she asked.

"I did but what was I gonna do? Hunt 'em all down myself?" Natsu responded, avoiding saying that it had actually had been a serious idea at one point in his life had it not been for Erza's scolding when she found out.

Lucy said nothing as her face told him that she back was in her thinking-mode again. He wasn't really sure what to say now but figured they should at least keep walking instead of just standing and talking in the middle of the sidewalk. He thought nothing of it as he'd done it plenty of times before but he reached out and grabbed her hand with his before tugging her along to get moving again.

"N-Natsu?" Lucy stammered, breaking from her thoughts and glimpsing down at his hand briefly.

"Hmm?" Natsu grunted as he stopped pulling her but not releasing his hand from hers either. It occurred to him that he never actually explained the Erza thing. "Oh right, yeah, so Erza used to have a friend a few years ago and they got involved with Tartaros and uh-"

Lucy kept looking down to their joined hands as they walked as if there was supposed to be something weird about it, causing him to forget what he was saying. Natsu swiftly considered letting go so she would stop fretting about problems that weren't there as but he found himself strangely reluctant to do so.

"Wait- go back a second," Lucy said, looking up at him like she had just figured something out, her focus leaving their hands. "You said Tartaros leaves you alone… for how long has that been going on?"

"Since I dunno, I was sixteen or something," Natsu answered, honestly not really able to remember when that was exactly.

"I think we should look into it," she declared, sounding suddenly very determined.

' _We?'_

"How do ya mean?" Natsu asked and stopped walking again to take a real good look at her in order to gauge how serious she was. In response to this, she seemed to grip his hand a little harder but he didn't mind.

She definitely looked nervous as she began to speak. "I've seen all the news reports and articles about them – it seems unlikely that they wouldn't retaliate against you in some way. What if…"

Lucy stared at him for a moment, her lips moving as if she were going to say something but she kept stopping herself repeatedly, leaving him a little impatient. Her hand gripped his tightly again and he found himself giving hers a little squeeze in return in a way of reassurance.

"What if?" He echoed back at her, hoping for the rest of her sentence this time.

"What if it's related to Igneel in some way?" She said in a low voice, causing him to tense up and subconsciously touch his warm scarf with his other hand.

"Igneel… how?" Natsu asked seriously, a little lost on her thought patterns. If he had ever considered Tartaros and Igneel to be related in some way – he would have dismissed it as the two didn't seem to have anything in common. Even Mest would have found something that would have surely tied Igneel to Tartaros by now if there was anything there. Then came the idea that Igneel could be involved with criminals, something Natsu would vehemently deny as there was no way his dad would…

"I don't know how but it's just strange that the gang would leave you alone without a reason why," Lucy explained, this time she was the one who tugged on his hand confidently to get them walking again.

"Yeah but… Igneel has nothing in common with Tartaros…" Natsu replied, not understanding what possible connection she could have made.

"Yeah he does," Lucy said, nodding her head and looking up at him again with a grave expression. "You."

* * *

It was getting close to 4 PM by the time that they both made it to Strauss Games. After hearing Lucy's latest theory, Natsu wasn't entirely sure what to do with himself. He hadn't once thought that it might have something to do with him because what was so special that he had? It's not like he had money, connections or some other amazing thing that Tartaros wanted.

Regardless, all thoughts of going out and having fun were off the table the more he thought on it. He was even tempted to miss D&D so he could go look for any connected information that had _his_ name on it. Doing any kind of research was always the most boring and tedious part of looking for Igneel, often causing him to doze off in the process. He preferred leaving that stuff to Mest. Luckily, Lucy was one step ahead on him with her suggesting that they go together to look at public records in town for anything of interest.

That bought him some level of comfort at least, knowing that not only did Lucy want to help but she was also smart enough to figure out stuff that hadn't even occurred to him yet. Not only that but she clearly took him seriously about Igneel too.

The afternoon was spent at the old library in town – he'd been to it once to look for records but he found that trying to read old articles or records was really dull. It often took him ages to read a page of words – sometimes skipping entire lines or sentences without noticing or some of the words looking like they were in some other language. With Lucy there, everything went so much faster. They would find something and she'd read it out loud without any issue.

Unfortunately, they hadn't found much of interest either. A record of his birth parents fatal accident was the only thing that came up that had his name on it – Lucy gasping in shock when he produced it for her to read. He supposed he never did tell her why he and Zeref ended up in foster care in the first place. Not remembering anything about his parents made it seem unimportant to mention. Lucy went about making a photocopy of the article before they left, deciding to take a look at it later.

They stopped on their way to Strauss games to also grab a late lunch. Luckily for him, it was hot dogs. He ate five.

When they finally entered the store together, every member of their group was already there, including Erza.

' _She's never here before four…'_ Natsu remembered, thinking that was a bit strange for her. He shrugged it off easily though. Erza probably wanted to get prepared for their impending dragon battle that was sure to come most likely.

"Yo, we're here!" Natsu announced to the group as both he and Lucy approached the table.

"Been somewhere together?" Gray asked in a way that was… weird – like he was trying to imply something.

"The library," Natsu swiftly answered, causing Gray to drop several sets of dice all over the floor and Erza's fingers to slip her cup of coffee, spilling some of it onto her character sheet.

"Yeah right, as if, Salamander," Gajeel said. "You're full of shit sometimes."

"It's true," Lucy said, taking her seat at the table. "We were looking for information that might help with finding his dad."

"That again?" Gajeel asked, looking to Lucy before looking to Natsu. "You're not giving up on that are ya?"

"Nope," he replied. If anything, he had even more reason to look now.

What Gajeel thought was irrelevant. Lucy's help was more than enough to motivate him. Putting thoughts aside of looking for Igneel, Natsu went over to the register where Lisanna was awaiting him, the tray of snacks at the ready. He couldn't help but notice that she looked different – happier maybe? He was about to ask her if anything was up when he spotted his tray had a new addition – several extra-large cookies.

"Whoa – what are these?!" He exclaimed, grabbing one and taking a bite. After tasting it, he quickly took another and another. Each bite was pure sugary goodness with amazing soft caramel chunks.

Lisanna giggled. "They're Elfman's 'Manly Cookies', hence the size. I think he might have even put protein powder in them too."

"They're great! Tell him he needs to make more of these!" Natsu replied, grabbing the tray. "Thanks again, Lisanna."

He rejoined the table, his ears quickly picking up that everyone was in the midst of discussing the upcoming tournament.

"Hey, Pyro!" Gray called out, causing Natsu to look over to him whilst taking a bite from another cookie.

"What is it, Stripper?" Natsu asked with his mouth half-full upon seeing Gray was once again shirtless.

"I've made a character for the tournament – up for a duel one of these days?" He asked with a smug expression.

Natsu beamed back, swallowing down the last chunk of cookie. "Hell yeah, I'm gonna kick your ass!"

Gray nodded appreciatively. "I'm going to be playing a Tiefling Wizard so it's going to be an interesting match up."

"Yeah… do we have any idea who we're gonna be up against yet?"

"Nah, man. Mira is keeping tight-lipped about it."

As everyone settled down for the game, Natsu grabbing a bag of chips from his tray after taking out his character sheet and dice from his pant pockets, Juvia pulled out her sketchbook. Curious, Natsu leaned towards her to get a good look at it as she flipped it open. He was kinda hoping for another drawing of his character – maybe with Lucy's and Happy in it too, looking awesome together in some kind of battle pose.

He grunted when he saw it was just an overly soppy drawing of Juvia and Gray instead, losing interest immediately.

"Look! It's Juvia and Gray in costumes for Halloween! Juvia thinks matching outfits would be best!" She proclaimed as she panned the sketch around the table proudly, much to Gray's annoyance. Natsu, whilst not understanding Juvia's dumb fascination with Gray, could at least appreciate that some of the things she did annoyed him to no end.

"We can discuss the tournament later," Erza said sternly, standing up with a commanding presence. "Let's discuss changing our start times for our group's newest member, Wendy, who's joining us next week."

"As long as it ain't too early," Gajeel replied. "I like sleeping in on weekends."

Natsu had to agree there. "Yeah, and I wanna have lunch first before we play."

"I'm okay with anything – it'll be nicer to finish a bit earlier in the evening for a change!" Lucy said, placing her elbows on the table and propping her head onto her palms. Natsu caught her gaze suddenly roaming to her left, catching sight of the tray and more specifically – the cookies.

Now, Natsu really liked the cookies. He had been okay with sharing some of his snacks until now, especially after Lucy had made it clear to him the other night that finances were something that worried her. A part of him was feeling greedy enough to keep those cookies all to himself but he also really wanted Lucy to try them too. That wasn't unusual, right?

He didn't really pay attention to the idle chatter at the table as he roughly grabbed a cookie and dropped it right in front of Lucy onto her character sheet. Now she wouldn't need to eye them up and he could eat the rest. Lucy shot him a weird look, but he heard her whisper a 'thank you' a moment later.

"Oh, and by the way, Lucy," Erza said, causing Natsu to return to actually paying attention to the rest of the table at the sound of Lucy's name being mentioned. "Are you alright with understanding the rules of the tournament? I had meant to ask."

"Yep! Natsu came over my place to explain it all to me so I'm good, thanks!" She replied enthusiastically, leaving him with a strong feeling of pride.

"Is that so?" Erza replied curiously before looking to Natsu. "I hope you're behaving yourself when you're in her home, Natsu."

Natsu tiredly rolled his eyes at her. Did she think he needed babysitting or something?

"Anyway, we should get started. Are you ready, Gray?" Erza said, turning to the Dungeon Master.

" _Oh yeah_ ," Gray answered in a way that told Natsu that something was definitely going to go down today.

* * *

It was a few hours into the session when Gray finally began to describe the entrance to the 'dragon's lair' after their party had to hike half-way up the tallest mountain in the vicinity to a large, visible cave. Not much happened that really captured Natsu's interests – there was nothing to fight, Juvia's character tripped on a rock and Erza kept listing tactics they could attempt for each dragon type she could think of. He, however, already had a plan for the dragon – fight it if it wasn't a fire type, befriend it if it was.

Although what he was really hoping for was an opportunity to cast his new 'Fireball' spell as not only could it hit multiple targets but the damage could be really high too if he rolled well.

One good thing of the session so far was that he got to roleplay as Happy again so Gajeel couldn't be an ass this time.

"The cave entrance looks dark but you can all feel the warmth coming from inside," Gray described for them all after placing down the covered grid map on the table. "Do you all head in?"

"Guys – I'm really not sure about this…" Lucy said, sitting forward with her eyes focused on her miniature. "I personally don't think Luna is strong enough."

Lucy breaking character mid-session was unusual for her as she tended to roleplay as someone who was confident and level-headed but suddenly thinking her character was weak? Natsu wasn't sure why she had that idea in her head at all.

"Luna is plenty strong!" He rebuked loudly. "You've got me and Happy… we're not gonna let anything happen to you!"

Lucy looked to him looking a little surprised… He didn't know why that was, she should be able to see that her character was just a strong as the rest of theirs. She offered a half-smile before quickly looking away as if to shield her face with her hair.

' _I think that helped?'_

"The rest of us are here too, moron," Gajeel interjected grumpily.

Natsu was about to bark something back but Erza swiftly cut into the exchange.

"-Getting back to the task at hand – we should have a formation. I shall lead the front as I will be ready to shield us from any danger. Metalicana, you take the back as your natural dragon hide skin can take any ambushes from behind better than our spellcasters could."

What she demanded of them made sense to Natsu although he wasn't a fan of being reminded that his character wasn't as tough as he would have liked. He would get stronger fire magic in just one more level which made it seem worth it though.

As the group made their way through the cave's entrance with Gray describing the area growing warmer, Natsu could only get more excited for what was to come.

' _It's gotta be a fire dragon.'_

Gray removed another sheet of paper which unveiled a crossroads for their party, causing them to stop and for Erza to question which route to take.

"If we're intending on meeting the dragon – it would probably be in the direction the heat is coming from," Lucy suggested which Natsu agreed with.

"Let's go straight to the dragon – screw these other paths!" He was quick to yell out to the group.

"What if there's treasure down the other ways?" Juvia asked, looking to him briefly before back at Gray again as if she were hoping to glean any new information from him. Natsu knew that stoic look that their Dungeon Master had well – ice prick was giving no clues today.

"We can come back for it later! Dragon first!" Natsu insisted and moved his character from their formation, asking Gray in which direction the heat was coming from.

Gray didn't get a chance to answer.

"I want to grapple Salamander so he doesn't run off," Erza said, already rolling her dice.

"What the hell! Why?!" Natsu yelled, grabbing his own dice and rolling them as well.

"Because we need to stick together."

"I'm gonna assist Erza," Lucy interjected, throwing Natsu a disappointed look.

The both of them added their totals although with Lucy giving Erza advantage with her assistance, Titania easily overpowered Salamander and pinned him to the ground as Gray and Gajeel laughed at the outcome.

Natsu let out a frustrated growl under his breath. Okay, so he could admit that _maybe_ it wasn't in the best interests of the group to just run blindly to the dragon but at the same time, he felt that as a team, that they could handle it and Gray was unlikely to throw anything stupidly hard at them yet. He could barely believe that Lucy would choose to help Erza instead of him although he was pretty sure he could trust her judgment regardless.

"Okay, Salamander is grappled and held to the ground by Titania when the rest of you hear a sound coming from down the tunnel that he tried to run into," Gray said, speaking up and regaining everyone's attention.

"What's the sound?" Gajeel asked.

"Roll a perception check."

Gajeel rolled averagely but that was enough for Gray to answer him. "You can hear something speaking Draconic," he stated.

Natsu perked up what with knowing that his character spoke that language. He picked up his dice, getting ready to have his character go run up to whatever it was and attempt to communicate. "I'm gonna-"

"You're stilled grappled by Titania," Gray reminded him. "Do you try to escape?"

"Damn straight I do."

Natsu rolled his dice, Erza did too as she was rolling against him. He smirked when he saw his result of 18, much higher than her 9.

"Alright, flame brain," Gray began. "You manage to shove Titania off you and get back up… and in the meantime, the creatures have walked closer towards you all and you quickly spot that they are kobolds."

Natsu cocked his head curiously as he tried to remember where he'd heard that word before. Kobolds? Those were the creatures he fought before weren't they? Back when Lucy first joined… maybe? His memory was failing him.

" _I_ will talk to them this time," Gajeel quickly declared, frowning at Natsu. "In Draconic."

"Alright," Gray said. "You approach the kobolds and notice that they are of a brassy color. What do you say to them?"

Gajeel scrunched his nose as he drummed his fingers along the rim of the table. "Take us to the dragon or I kill you."

Natsu was about to interfere, determined to prove that he was more than capable of talking to kobolds just fine but after Gajeel said that, he stopped himself as he was now eager to see how this was gonna go.

"Roll an intimidation check then," Gray said.

Gajeel lazily rolled his dice, scoring a respectable 13 and grunting at the result.

"Alright, the kobolds are kinda fearful of you but you get the impression they are probably more scared by the dragon they serve," Gray explained. "One of them replies to you in Draconic."

Natsu could freely admit that sometimes… well a lot of times, he wouldn't pay attention to conversations between other characters unless he was involved or if it seemed important. Gajeel talking to a bartender at a tavern about music, for example, was not something he could get interested in. On this occasion, he paid close attention due to the involvement of dragons and his character had the option of saying something too, unlike everyone else at the table.

Gray didn't bother changing his voice for the kobold which Natsu found a little disappointing. He knew Gray was still working on different voices and accents for the characters he created. He also knew that it was something Gray struggled with as the guy usually kept to himself but being a Dungeon Master required you to be sort of outgoing for your players. As far as Natsu was concerned, everyone at the table was among friends – even Gajeel – so why Gray felt self-conscious about doing silly voices for them was kind of dumb.

"The kobold tells you that you can only see the dragon if you pass the test," Gray stated. "They say its because they don't like the look of freak with the cat."

Natsu frowned towards Gray. "There's nothing wrong with my cat!"

"Salamander, he didn't say-" Juvia began before Gray interrupted her.

"Your character doesn't speak the language, Juvia. She doesn't understand the conversation."

Juvia nodded, sitting back and resumed her creepy looking at Gray.

"The kobolds tell you that the cat is fine and then also call you a dumb human," Gray replied, smirking away. "They say they don't like your red scales – a sign of a dragon most evil."

Natsu scoffed at the words. "No way is the red dragon I'm trying to find evil!" He loudly yelled across the table.

"They insist your group must past their test before they lead you anywhere and go back to talking with Metalicana," Gray said.

"Fine, what's the damn test?" Gajeel asked, growing impatient.

Natsu heard Gray flipping pages in his notebook before resuming the conversation.

"You must answer three questions – the first is 'Where might you find a 'Bluecap'?'"

Natsu groaned – it was gonna be a stupid quiz.

' _Why couldn't Gray have come up with something better?'_

"How the hell am I supposed to know that?" Gajeel barked back, obviously not knowing the answer either.

"You roll a nature check to see if your character knows? I don't expect you guys in person to actually know," Gray answered, shaking his head at him and letting out a resigned sigh.

"Hmph… guess that makes sense," Gajeel said and rolled his dice. An unimpressive 5.

"Yeah, you have no idea," Gray confirmed for him.

"I get to roll right? 'Cause I understood the conversation?" Natsu quickly asked, eager to roll and show Gajeel how it's done. Unfortunately, he knew his character's nature skill wasn't very good… but he had an idea of whose would be decent, looking to Lucy. She looked back at him, tilting her head in a questioning manner.

"Yeah, you can," Gray answered, leaving Natsu unsure whether he wanted to roll.

He made his decision quickly and settled his dice back down, knowing that his D&D partner was a better choice for this. "Actually, I'm gonna tell Luna what's going on and tell her the question they're asking."

"You are?" Lucy asked as if she didn't believe it was something he would do.

"Yeah, 'cause we're a team and you know stuff."

It paid off, with Gray stating that Salamander relayed what was going on to the others before acting as a translator between the kobolds and the rest of the group. Lucy rolled well with her character being proficient in the nature skill.

Two more questions followed – one about the politics of a certain kingdom in their campaign and another about some ancient historian. Juvia made up for one of Lucy's poor rolls on the second question luckily, answering it successfully.

For once, Natsu didn't mind not being the one to do the best. He could admit that it was actually a little more fun as a group to get it right together.

Eventually, the kobolds agreed to take them to see the dragon and Natsu rubbed his hands in trepidation – he might finally get to have a really challenging fight. If everyone worked together, they could take it down for sure, he was certain of that.

"You all follow the kobolds through a secret set of tunnels, free of traps, until you are led into a large, hollow cave which includes some carved out 'windows' in the rock wall which give you all a view of the desert below," Gray explained, clearly enjoying describing the layout for them all. He stopped talking and reached under the table to grab something before coming back up again with a large miniature in his hand, causing Natsu to sit forward with a burning interest.

It was a dragon miniature – not as large as the ones he had painted but at least three times the size of their character miniatures. Natsu liked the look of its color – something that looked like yellowy-rust.

The dragon was placed in the center of the grid paper on the table and Natsu was very tempted to just have his character run in and demand a fight there and then.

"Before you is a large brass-colored dragon, sitting on a few piles of gold but also a lot of books. Several paintings are leaning against the cave's walls too," Gray continued to describe, Natsu looking to Lucy briefly when he heard that books were mentioned. He knew how much she cared about them. Her facial expressions indicated that she was clearly listening with keen interest too.

"Sitting a few feet away from the dragon is a woman in fine regal clothing who looks surprised to see you all there," Gray continued. He gulped nervously before letting out a small cough. Natsu knew what that usually meant – ice prick was gonna put on one of his prepared voices again.

He was proved right when Gray next spoke.

"What's this?! More humans have come to my lair to talk with me? What an auspicious day this is!" Gray said in a deep voice.

' _Was that supposed to be the voice for the dragon? Pfft, dragons would sound way cooler than that.'_

"You want to talk to us, Mr Dragon?" Lucy said, unsure in her words. Natsu could see why too, why the heck would a dragon just want to talk? Where's the fearsomeness and breath attacks?

Gajeel clearly had the same idea. "What the fuck is this? Why is the dragon not trying to kill us all already?" He barked across the table at Gray.

"Yeah, what gives?" Natsu asked. "Dragons don't act like this!"

Juvia sat forward, her face darkening as she scowled at them both. Natsu wasn't particularly phased by her odd mood swings as he did hang around Lucy a lot and she always got like that too. He was pretty used to it and if given a choice, he probably wouldn't have it any other way either. It's a part of what made Lucy… Lucy.

"Both of you – don't you be so rude to Gray. He's your Dungeon Master and you should let him play this out as he planned!" Juvia scolded causing Gajeel to sit back grumpily.

"Juvia is right," Erza agreed, sending a menacing glare Natsu's way and he, in turn, shrunk back a little into his chair. Angering Erza was never worth the pain that came with it. "We might have expected something like this – I wasn't convinced we would be able to handle a dragon just yet," she continued.

Erza then looked back to Gray, offering him a small nod. "Go ahead, Gray."

Gray cleared his throat again. "Right."

Natsu looked over to Lucy who seemed unfazed by any of this. She was probably happy that if the dragon just wanted to talk, she wouldn't have to fight. Fighting was what made D&D a lot of fun for him… then again, perhaps it was on par with roleplaying with her.

"Tell me tales of your adventures!" Gray said in the dragon's voice, smirking again afterwards. "In Draconic if you can – it is a superior language."

' _That ice_ _bastard's loving this…'_

"No way is Metalicana gonna wanna sit and have fucking tea and biscuits while gossiping with a dragon," Gajeel said, grabbing his miniature. "He's gonna try and leave whilst saying 'to hell with this!'"

Gray seemed to delight momentarily in that declaration before his poker face returned. "Alright, as Metalicana tries to leave, the dragon suddenly inhales before exhaling towards most of you. I'm gonna need… Gajeel, Lucy, Juvia and flames for brains to roll constitution saving throws."

Juvia gasped and Lucy sat frozen for a second before nervously picked up her dice. Natsu looked to Gray, glaring darkly at him as he knew that a breath attack was a dragon's strongest ability. He was okay with his character taking it but Lucy getting involved when she had wanted to avoid a fight? It didn't seem fair.

Natsu picked up his dice again and rolled, looking to Lucy first and her result before looking to his own, letting out a breath of relief that he didn't know he had been holding when he saw her result of 18.

' _That's easily a_ _save_ _.'_

His own result was a 16 but with his bonus in constitution, he was confident his character would also avoid the attack. Of course, Juvia just had to roll a natural 20.

Gajeel on the other hand… rolled a 5. Even with his own constitution bonus, that was gonna be a fail. The biker grunted, crossing his arms, saying nothing but Natsu was pretty sure he was pissed.

"Okay – so Salamander, Luna and Titania all are able to resist the effects of the incoming breath attack," Gray began to say, growing slightly more impassioned as he did so. "The breath as it turns out was more like a glittering powder and it smacks Metalicana right in his face."

"Glittering powder?" Gajeel asked, not sounding the least bit happy. "So what – am I some kind of stripper like you now?"

"No," Gray answered. "Metalicana falls unconscious. He's fast asleep."

Natsu started laughing loudly. He couldn't help it – he had been certain that Gajeel's character was gonna die for sure but this was way funnier. A dragon that puts people to sleep? He was beginning to like him.

Unexpectedly, Gajeel didn't budge from his chair for a change. The guy always went for a smoke break whenever something like this happened. Natsu could only guess that he must be more interested to see where this is all going.

Gray cleared his throat again and began to speak, but this time in a much more shrill voice.

"Please don't harm the dragon – he's been very good to me and I'm here of my own volition," Gray said, obviously trying to pretend to do the voice of a woman and Natsu couldn't help but laugh some more, even more loudly this time. Gray sounded fucking ridiculous.

Natsu felt a jab in his side, breaking him from his laughter to see Lucy shaking her head disapprovingly at him before turning away to look towards the Dungeon Master again.

"Then why are you here? You are the princess aren't you?" Lucy asked.

Gray continued with his weird lady voice. "My father – the King, wishes me to marry a prince from a faraway land but I cannot go through with it. That prince is cruel and wicked."

Lucy nodded and Natsu swore he saw something in her expression – something like she knew exactly how that felt.

' _Huh… that's pretty weird of her.'_

"You are the Princess Hisui?" Erza asked, confirming her identity.

"That's right," Gray answered before adjusting his voice again, taking on the deeper voice he had chosen earlier for the dragon.

"And I am Zirconis! Let us make conversation, I long to hear more stories of the lands far from here!"

Lucy sat forward, grinning as she seemed eager to chat. Honestly, Natsu was curious too at what the dragon to say, even if it was Gray behind it. He still wished they could have had at least one battle before talking though. It would have been fun to see how far they could have got – how strong they were all becoming.

Unfortunately for Natsu, Gray went on to roleplay the dragon by asking many questions to the group about their adventures which was fine at first but it just went on… and on… and on. He was getting bored and Gajeel had already left for two quick smoke breaks during that time. Was this all that this dragon did? Just talk non-stop?

He had enough.

"Okay, so what are we doing?!" Natsu called out, breaking the conversation currently taking place between Erza and Zirconis. "If we're not slaying a dragon and we're not saving the princess, then what are we gonna tell the guild?"

Gray looked at him and continued to speak in the dragon's voice.

"I have a quest for you if you want to slay a dragon," he said.

Natsu perked up and began to grin again.

' _Fucking finally!'_

"What is that?" Erza asked.

Gray took a breath before answering. "There is a dragon in this part of the world, killing many of my kind and others. He's strong and it's thanks to him that I've barely left my cave – even to hunt for food. Stop him and I shall reward you with anything you want."

"Anything?" Juvia echoed.

"Anything."

Natsu easily knew what he would pick. His character wanted to find a dragon – this dragon might help him find it.

"What is the dragon's name?" Erza asked.

"Acnologia… the Destroyer," Gray replied ominously.

Lucy spoke up next. "We hardly seemed equipped as it is to take on an even stronger dragon…"

The Dungeon Master was quick to reply. "That's true – I could have easily burnt you all in a single breath should you have chosen to attack me. That's why I am offering you all each any magic item from my hoard to aid you."

"Sweet, any instruments there?" Gajeel quickly asked, suddenly keen on talking again.

"Wait a second-" Lucy interjected. "If you're stronger than us – why don't you just fight this evil dragon yourself?"

"Because I don't want to fight it and I'm willing to try anything to stop it from getting to my home."

It was then that Gray went on to describe the various magical items that were in the hoard, allowing everyone in turn to take something. They were warned that the dragon wouldn't take kindly to anyone taking anything more for themselves. Natsu agreed, he knew some basic dragon behavior – treasure was important to them. It was understandable too – he'd be pretty pissed if anyone came into his place and took any of his treasure… likes the ones he kept under his bed back at his apartment for example.

Natsu took particular interest in one magic item that Gray had mentioned – 'Dragon's Flame Gloves'.

"What'd they do?" He asked bluntly.

"You'll need to attune to them to find out," Gray answered, leaving Natsu to decide whether to take them for himself based on the name alone. He didn't even really need to think about it with the name it had – they had to be meant for him.

"I'll take 'em."

Lucy went on to get interested in some kind whip with a weird name but she seemed to recognize the meaning of it in some way. As with his item, she also had to attune to it. This left her looking confused which he could already guess as to why what with her still learning about the mechanics of D&D. That was to be expected, you could still be learning new stuff years into playing or just from switching to a new character with a different class.

Gray started describing some shiny armor next, getting Erza's attention immediately. Natsu stopped paying any interest as he had his item already and he wanted to clarify things for Lucy.

"Hey, Lucy," Natsu said in a low voice, leaning towards her. "Attunement means you just have to use the item for a bit during a short rest to learn what it does!"

Lucy grinned back at him, whispering a quick thanks and then went about jotting down what he had just told her into her notes. Natsu grinned too, happy to have helped her out. He'd never thought he'd be teaching someone something but seeing Lucy listen and take him seriously when he did was a really good feeling to have.

His attention snapped back to the game to hear Gajeel choose to take some kind of magic guitar and then Juvia to take some sort of umbrella. He thought they were kinda dumb choices for magic items to have picked.

' _They could be funny to see though.'_

The remainder of the session was first led by Erza who wanted to get as much information she could about this new dragon. Natsu didn't bother taking any notes – Lucy seemed to be doing a great job at that as it was and he could just ask her to see hers, expecting that she wouldn't mind.

He learned that the new dragon was really big, it was currently far away from where they were now, it hated other dragons and its color was unknown. It didn't sound like the dragon his character was looking for which was a relief. _That_ dragon was supposed to be friendly and kind or so his character's backstory said.

Then, the group had to leave the caves and make the trek back down the mountain. It was around then that Gray decided that it was getting late and they should probably call the session there.

* * *

Natsu had to hand to Gray – he really had been expecting to fight a dragon. He was sure that they'd slay it as well as saving some chick from it too but what really went down had him wondering what else Gray has planned for the campaign.

"Hey, Gray?" Lucy said, capturing both Gray and Juvia's attention, the latter looking very apprehensive. "Thanks for the session today – you've clearly put a lot of work into planning it and it was a lot of fun!"

Natsu was quick to notice Juvia's face turn aggravated for a moment before she turned to Gray to do her usual theatrics. "Gray, my darling! Lucy's right, you are a wonderful DM!"

Gray began blushing as he turned awkwardly away from both of them. "Stop it you two…" he uttered, and Natsu found himself tempted to join in too, mockingly, just to rile him up. It was definitely tempting, but he was tired after the day he'd had and mostly just had sleeping on his mind at that point. He looked over at Lucy again, wondering what prompted her to thank the stripper suddenly like that.

"Juvia can't wait for the tournament! It sounds like so much fun!" Juvia said loudly before looking back to Gray again. "Juvia can't wait to see Gray's new character."

Natsu watched as Lucy walked over to Juvia with a smile on her face, looking equally as excited. "I can't wait either, Juvia! It's going to be so nice to meet the other teams and I'm bringing along my friend, Levy to it as well!"

' _Levy?'_

Juvia let out a loud, surprised gasp at hearing that. The store fell quiet aside from the background music still running on the overhead speakers and Lucy peered around at everyone's faces, confused before finally looking to Natsu's for help.

"Did I say something wrong?" she asked, looking around.

"Uh," Natsu began, ready to pull her aside before Metal Head could react. The last time anybody had brought up _her_ name at the table had led to him being more pissed off than Natsu had ever seen him before, which was saying something as the man was someone who got easily annoyed a lot.

Swiftly, Natsu grabbed Lucy's hand and was about to pull her towards him but he wasn't quite fast enough.

"Did you say 'Levy'?" Gajeel asked in a low, dangerous voice, clenching his fists tightly.

Natsu could feel Lucy's hand tense as she gripped his tightly before she answered. "Y-Yeah? She's a friend of mine who lives in Crocus…"

"Levy… McGarden?" Gajeel repeated, his voice sounding more desperate than angry this time.

"… Yes?" Lucy hesitantly answered.

Natsu knew he didn't always remember people and faces too well – if they didn't play a big role in his life, he tended to just focus on other things. However, despite not knowing Levy beyond being acquaintances, he did remember some of what happened a day or so before she moved away.

Gajeel had gotten into a fight, something that Natsu wished he had been there for. Metal head was really close to being expelled after that which infuriated a lot of people, especially after all the shit that those Tartaros recruits had been pulling all year long.

He recalled going to Makarov himself, his legal guardian and demanding that Gajeel not face any punishment as it just wasn't right. Gramps had been able to keep Metal Head there until they graduated but it almost seemed like it didn't matter as he was just miserable after that point anyway.

"Wait… are you her ex?" Lucy asked stepping forward towards Gajeel and breaking away from holding Natsu's hand as her confidence seemed to return to her. He was wary of Gajeel, unsure of where this was gonna go or how the guy would react.

The answer to that came swiftly as Gajeel clenched his fists even tighter like he wanted to punch something _hard_. Natsu knew Gajeel would never hurt any of them, especially not Lucy if she had actually been a friend of Levy's after all this time. Still, he stepped forwards in front of Lucy, ready to face anything that Metal Head might start saying in Lucy's direction. She didn't need to feel the brunt of his anger.

"Gajeel…" Juvia said quietly.

Erza looked as if she were about to say something too but Gajeel was first to speak again.

"She's really comin' here?" Gajeel asked, intensely staring at Lucy.

Natsu checked over his shoulder to see Lucy nod affirmatively.

"Shit," Gajeel uttered quietly, perhaps too quiet for anyone but him to hear.

"I'm sorry, I didn't know you were… Levy never said…" Natsu could hear Lucy try to explain from behind him. She didn't get the chance to say anything more as Gajeel, with his head down, stormed off towards the exit. Everyone heard the entrance door open and then slam shut, leaving the small bell ringing furiously.

"Did I-" Lucy began to speak, her voice cracking slightly as though she were on the verge of tears. Natsu whirled around on the spot, not liking the sound her voice was making and grabbed her by her shoulders.

"No, you didn't do anything wrong," Natsu said seriously, knowing exactly what she was going to ask. After a moment, she looked up to him with pink cheeks which he found a bit weird.

"Lucy, Levy is a sensitive subject for him…" Juvia said, stepping forward and offering a half-smile that was presumably supposed to be reassuring. "Levy was- is very special to him."

Natsu released her shoulders as Lucy looked as if she were regaining her composure before looking like she was also gonna ask him a ton of questions. He didn't really want to be the one to explain it all, knowing that Juvia would probably be better suited to it. He only a vague idea of what had happened and he only remembered the aftermath anyway.

Perhaps Lucy was not feeling like her usual inquisitive self, she instead surprised him by not asking anything. "I'm going to speak to Levy about all of this… it's only right that I hear it from her," she said with sudden certainty.

"That sounds like that would be the best thing to do," Erza replied, reminding Natsu that she and Gray were in fact still there, despite neither of them saying anything. "It's time we all went about getting home, don't forget that we'll start at two next week."

"Right," Lucy affirmed and began packing up her things.

"Juvia will help Gray tidy up!" Juvia was quick to declare to nobody's surprise.

"Okay, Lucy, shall we get going then?" Erza asked, walking over to both her and Natsu and taking her car keys out of her pocket.

Natsu was once gain feeling torn about being grateful that Erza always had Lucy's safety in mind after each session, especially after he messed up by running into Jackal. He was a little disheartened that it had to be via transport because he was so against it himself and didn't want to join them. He'd come to the conclusion recently that he could tolerate a long ride somewhere if it meant something great was awaiting him at the end. Ever since Lucy had asked about Ryuzetsu Con, he couldn't help but think about what it would be like if they went together to see all the cool new stuff that would be coming out.

' _Screw taking short trips though – it's not worth it when I can walk to where I need to go.'_

Not wanting any more thoughts of potentially riding a vehicle to cross his mind again for now, he checked over his shoulder to see if he had grabbed everything of his before preparing to leave.

"Actually Erza," Lucy said nervously, causing Natsu to peer back over at her, standing ready with her bag and everything. "I think I'll keep Natsu company this time."

"You are?" Natsu asked, having not expected that in the slightest.

She smiled back at him encouragingly. "Yeah, you're always walking home on your own and we can walk as far as the bridge together."

Natsu couldn't help but feel… well he didn't really know. Optimistic maybe? But it felt nice for someone to pick his company for a change. Not just anyone either – his best friend.

He didn't waste any more time in leaving, dashing on ahead and calling Lucy over to hurry up as he left the building. He kinda liked to have Lucy all to himself to just talk to and have fun with.

He didn't see it but as he left, Erza watched them both leave with a satisfied smile.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've been absolutely exhausted all week so this chapter took ages to write and I apologise if it's a lower-tier in quality than what I usually write. The next two chapters will come in parts 1&2 as it's a long D&D session to cover which I'm hoping turns out to be fun to read. It was what I had originally planned to be out around Halloween but oh well! I'm also being dragged to come to play the new WoW expansion tonight with my old guild members so that might slow down when the next chapter is out too.
> 
> I can already guess that some of you are gonna be curious about Levy again – it's not long now until she makes an appearance now that Lucy's given a date that she'll be in town.
> 
> Also, if you play D&D, remember to thank your DM once in a while! It's similar to them getting reviews except it's for their sessions!
> 
> Next chapter: Wendy introduces her character, the group discovers a horrifying situation in D&D and Lucy looks back on her week…
> 
> D&D Terms:  
> Charisma: Affects your ability when speaking with others, negotiating, convincing, deceiving etc. The sorcerer class (which Natsu and Juvia are playing as) also uses this in their spellcasting abilities.  
> Brass Dragon: A 'good' aligned dragon that has both fire breath and sleeping breath. It prefers desert climates. It loves talking with intelligent beings instead of fighting – usually to the point of annoyance.  
> Magic Items: Items with special abilities.  
> Attunement: Some magic items require you to use/wear/mediate with them before their magical properties can be used. A short rest will do the job! Also, a character can't usually be attuned to more than three magic items at a time.  
> Bluecap: The answer was is that it's commonly found in the Underdark!


	23. The Town of Nirvana – Part I

**Sunday Afternoon, October 4th**

Lucy knew, that no matter how she was going to go about it, the conversation she was about to have with Levy was going to be extremely awkward for both of them. Having failed to get a hold of her the night before, she had left Levy a message asking to talk as soon as possible. She also wasn't sure if she should be surprised or not at having not received any messages from Gajeel about their earlier exchange at D&D yet – another thing she was hoping Levy might shed some light on.

Levy replied in the morning, saying she was free to talk for a short while that afternoon.

So, Lucy was having a peaceful pajama day and was sitting on her bed with a good book when her phone rang beside her. She took a breath before picking up, knowing that this wasn't going to be easy in the slightest.

" _Hello? Lucy?"_

"Hey, Levy! I hope you aren't too busy, I just really need to ask you something."

" _Oh sure? Is it to do with your writing? I haven't received your latest chapter yet so-"_

"No, that's not it… uh…"

Lucy lightly bit her lip as she desperately thought of how to even approach the subject that she needed to talk about. The last thing she wanted to do was dredge up old memories of a boyfriend that Levy had yet to mention in the few years that they had been friends. She knew that there must have been a reason for that but when her ex-boyfriend had actually been playing D&D this whole time in the same group…

' _Did Levy know that?'_

Levy's concerned voice brought her back to the conversion. _"Lucy?"_

"I don't really know how to say this… but… uh-"

" _It's about Gajeel isn't it?"_

Lucy almost dropped her phone at Levy's suddenly frankness. "How did you know?"

" _I… thought this would come up sooner or later… especially with my visit soon,"_ Levy answered with some hesitation in her voice. At that point, Lucy was absolutely burning with questions as well as confusion as to why Levy had never said _anything_ , even before they had gone their separate ways physically to study at different institutes.

"What happened, Levy?"

" _Between Gajeel and I? A lot of things…"_

"I understand if it's not something you want to talk about but why did you never tell me about him?"

Levy let out a sad sigh on the other end of the line. _"I didn't want to talk about it…_ _that time in my life…_ _"_

"But why?" Lucy asked with an exasperated breath. "I've been seeing him every week at my D&D games and all this time, I never knew he was your ex!"

" _I'm sorry I didn't say anything sooner – I should have but well… Lucy, have you ever been in love?"_

Lucy's eyes widened at Levy's sudden question. "What? No…? What does that have to do with anything?"

" _It's just that- Can I… tell you about this when I come to visit? I promise to be upfront with you, I would just rather not do this over the phone."_

Lucy let out a small sigh, disappointed but understanding that this might be a conversation that required a bit more finesse than just a phone call. "Yeah, that's okay… but, what am I supposed to say when I see Gajeel next time? What if he asks me about you? He knows about your visit now."

Levy let a small laugh although it lacked any humor. _"He might_ _ask_ _… he might not. I haven't spoke_ _n_ _to him in a long time – I'm not even sure what I would say. We lost contact with each other after I moved away."_

The way Levy said that last sentence made it seem like she didn't mean to lose contact but how was that even possible in this day and age? Levy, normally calm and sensible, sounded so… so glum. "I'm so confused…" Lucy said quietly, out of frustration.

" _I know, I'm so sorry! I knew that once you said you were in Natsu's D &D group that you would have probably met Gajeel. I didn't know if he would still be there but obviously, he was. … Just tell him… that I'll see him on Halloween."_

"You'll tell me what happened when you get here?" Lucy asked, wanting to confirm that she would definitely get an explanation, even if it wouldn't be right this moment.

" _I will… I'm sorry, but I need to go before Jet and Roy-"_

"Jet and Roy?"

" _Oh, I've still got to tell you about them! They're good friends of mine – you're not the only one with a new social circle!"_ Levy said humorously and now sounding fairly happy to have a sudden change of subject. Lucy wanted to say she was a little jealous that her favorite bookworm had other people in her life that now commanded Levy's attention over hers but she knew that wasn't fair. It was inevitable that they would both find new groups of people to talk to.

" _But anyway, I really do have to go, …can I ask you something first?"_

"Sure," Lucy replied, uncertain as to what that could be.

" _Is he okay?"_

"Gajeel?" Lucy asked although that answer was obvious. In all honesty, she had no idea how Gajeel was overall other than hearing Natsu's complaints about how grumpy he became at times during work. In general, he seemed fine from what she could tell so that's all she could go with. "I think so," was her answer.

" _Okay… we'll speak again soon. Bye, Lucy."_

"Take care…"

The phone fell silent and Lucy hesitated before putting it down on her pillow beside her. She was feeling somewhat at a loss – unsure of what to make of that short conversation and had none of her questions answered. She would wait for Levy to explain on her terms, even if she did feel a little bitter about her keeping something like this from her.

Whatever happened between Levy and Gajeel was definitely none of her business but she felt Levy should have at least informed her who Gajeel was at the very least.

' _I_ _t_ _feels like this town is getting smaller and smaller… everyone is connected somehow.'_

Feeling too distracted to read or write anymore with her brain working overtime in trying to futilely guess at any clues as to what happened between them, she glanced over at her phone again. She considered whether Gajeel would tell her anything if she asked… but knew that would probably go against what Levy wanted.

Lucy picked up her phone and found herself flicking through her messages, subconsciously settling on the last one she received from Natsu who, as per usual, had been talking about a video game he'd been playing.

' _Perhaps he's free to hang out again today?'_

She tapped out a message, asking if he was. She still wanted to help him look into any connections regarding Igneel, Tartaros and Natsu himself but so far, all she had was that newspaper article about his parents' deaths. She had a look over it that morning but there was nothing much to go on – his parents died in a car accident, leaving him and his brother as orphans.

Selfishly, she just wanted to do something a bit more relaxing that day with Natsu – whether it be just talking or watching something.

It only took a few minutes for his reply to arrive.

 **Natsu:** _hell yeah! comin over soon_

She smiled at his answer before wondering if she should prepare any snacks. A redundant thought – this was Natsu so of course she should or he'd help himself to her fridge. A relaxing Sunday afternoon watching some shows together – that sounded like a great way to take her mind off of things. Natsu just had that effect on her and she was wholly grateful for it.

* * *

**Saturday, October 10th**

Lucy was pleased to have had an uneventful week. It felt as if things were back to normal – no worries about Tartaros, Cana had been trying to learn what she could about her dad from her mom although she said it wasn't going well. Loke had been trying to learn how D&D works and she had done her best to explain as much as she could with the questions he'd asked. Of course, Dan was still an utter pain to put up with at work but he would be taking the week off come Monday which Lucy couldn't be happier about.

There was, however, some other changes in her life. Specifically, they all concerned her rosy-haired friend who walked by her side that afternoon towards Strauss Games for their new, earlier start time of two in the afternoon.

She noted how he looked carefree even despite the fact that together they had made no headway on her newest theory of Igneel and Tartaros being linked. His hands rested on the back of his head as he walked, his scarf suiting him much better in the chillier autumnal climate although she had to admit, he looked pretty good in the summer too with it.

"You think Wendy can do any cool spells on her character?" he asked, tilting head downwards towards her, giving her an odd look when he caught her staring at him. She looked away rapidly, unaware that she had been staring at all.

"She said she liked healing so I think we're gonna be much better prepared for all the reckless things you do," she quipped.

"Hey! I'm _not_ that bad!"

The continued to walk along the sidewalk and Lucy thought back on her week. Natsu had been turning up without warning after she was done at work, waiting outside her apartment door each time. At first, she thought he was just turning up to raid her fridge and whilst that was mostly true, he also brought a lot of his own snacks too in a knapsack along with him.

She was a little annoyed, having pre-planned her evenings to reading and focusing on writing mostly. Her job had left her wanting to write to make up for the fact she was a coffee collector. But as always, Natsu had that charm about him which made her really enjoy being in his company. He made her laugh, he always had some crazy ideas about things that made her really respect his perhaps underutilized imagination and then there was over-friendliness that made her feel as though they had been friends for years.

By Thursday night, she had caved into getting a TV for her apartment when her slowly dying laptop struggled to load websites, let alone any streaming services. Natsu was able to figure out that it wasn't her internet that was the problem but the laptop itself although he grumpily admitted that Gray would know a lot about it more than he would.

It turned out that Natsu preferred to play on gaming consoles and Gray preferred his PC and that somehow made yet another rivalry between them. Why that was, Lucy couldn't possibly begin to understand – it seemed really petty at best.

So on Friday, she met with Natsu again after work and together they headed out to meet with someone selling their old widescreen smart TV, with Lucy shelling out the jewels for it and Natsu carrying it without issue back to her apartment. It was a definite upgrade from her laptop that was for sure although it meant she would have to keep a close eye on her spending for the rest of the month.

Saturday came around and there they were, happily walking to the store. When they reached it, Natsu loudly greeted everyone and they both quickly spotted their newest member, Wendy, who was placing her character sheet and green dice out on the table in between Erza's seat and Gajeel's. Lucy noted that Erza still hadn't arrived from the looks of things although that wasn't a surprise.

"Yo, Wendy!" Natsu said, approaching the young teenager. "Long time no see! You doin' alright?"

"Natsu!" she replied. "I'm good, thank you! How are you?"

Natsu chuckled and began chatting away with her and Lucy could certainly see why Wendy had described him as if he were a sibling – he joked with her, asked her if anyone was causing her problems at school and talked as if it were a family reunion.

Lucy couldn't help but get curious about Wendy's character and her eyes roamed over to the new miniature addition to the table. It was smaller than average but Lucy wasn't sure what race it was meant to be – something that was roughly half the height of her own character she guessed from appearances alone. Beside the small miniature was another tressym, not identical to the one she had purchased for Natsu but definitely a winged cat, painted in all white.

Lucy was just about to start taking her own D&D items out of her bag when she heard her name said.

"Lucy!" Juvia called, gaining her attention. "Are you going to the harvest festival next week?"

"Wasn't planning on it," Lucy answered nonchalantly. In the past, she had often wanted to go but everyone she knew had always been busy in the years prior. Cana always worked overtime for double pay, Loke always had a date and Levy had yet to return to Magnolia. Naturally, she just assumed out of habit that she would be staying at home as per usual, doing some writing, reading or perhaps trying out a new recipe. That was one advantage to the harvest festival, most businesses would close for the day which included her place of work as one of them.

"Juvia is going with Gray for the first time this year!" Juvia said, reaching over and latching herself onto Gray's arm. The man in question groaned before turning to look at her.

"Juvia… c'mon," he said quietly, nudging her off gently. "You can… stay close to me at the festival, just not here."

Lucy smiled and thought it was sweet. She didn't quite understand what they were – exclusive but not together? Would Juvia really feel more threatened if her relationship with Gray was known to everyone? She wanted to pry but didn't… it was their business after all.

' _I'm saying that a lot lately…'_

Despite not understanding, she loved seeing other couples get together – it was just so nice to watch from the sidelines and it fed all sorts of imaginative ideas into her head for romance plots in her story. She also wanted to experience it for herself, having dreamed of meeting her own knight in shining armor one day.

"I think it's lame," Gajeel interjected, obviously having overheard the short exchange between them.

"But you enjoyed it a few years ago," Juvia replied back nervously.

"Yeah, well things were different then!" Gajeel snapped back although without the usual aggressiveness he usually had.

Juvia seemed to flinch a little at his response, bowing her head disappointingly.

Lucy, feeling as though Juvia didn't deserve the harsh response from Gajeel, was about to speak her own mind and give him a few words about being nicer to people as well as to stop butting into other people's conversations if he was just going to be negative. Gajeel however, quickly spoke again as the stern expression on his face dropped and turned to something more sheepish.

"Uh, sorry… didn't mean for it to come out like that," he said, scratching the back of his head awkwardly. The various tattoos up his arm were fairly prominent then – one in particular, although definitely different, reminded her of the Tartaros symbol that had been sprayed all over the shutters in the bad part of town. It had Lucy wondering what Gajeel knew of Tartaros since leaving high school.

Lucy then caught Natsu moving back to his seat at the table, sitting down and looking for his belongings, most likely to get his D&D stuff ready.

"What about you, Natsu?" Juvia asked, turning to him.

"Huh?"

"Are you going to the harvest festival this year? It's on Thursday."

"It's time for that already?" Natsu asked, looking momentarily surprised before a large grin soon formed across his face. "Lucy, we gotta check it out!" he yelled, turning and grabbing Lucy's shoulder, shaking her as if he were a toddler wanting sweets at a grocery store.

"Huh, why? I could use the extra time off to catching up on some writing," she replied.

"Because of all the food stalls! There's gonna be loads of things I haven't tried yet!" Natsu continued to insist.

"You've been before, haven't you?" Lucy asked, unsure of why she needed to be there with him _just_ to eat food. She just knew that if she ate as he did, she would have to start her morning runs much earlier just to work off the extra weight she would put on!

"Yeah, but there's different stalls every year!" Natsu persisted.

Lucy couldn't deny that she was certainly tempted. She knew it could be fun and it was something she wanted in the past. She also knew that wouldn't have to spend _all_ day there. However, just hanging out with Natsu brought out something within her that made her much more free-spirited than she usually was. Not just that either, she felt a strange sensation of safety and comfort too. None of her other friends had that effect which was odd so perhaps it was just something only Natsu could make her feel.

This also had an awkward side effect too, where once he would leave her presence, her chest sort of… ached, as though all that warmth he brought was suddenly yanked away from her. She couldn't explain it.

She decided to just go with what her heart told her about this. "Okay, Natsu, I'll go for a few hours," she finally answered.

He grinned boyishly back, releasing her shoulder. "There's other things there too but the food is the best!"

Lucy smiled warmly back at him. She wondered if he ever thought about more than just food sometimes. Maybe he had other aspirations that he just didn't realize that he had yet? He had to have some idea of what he wanted life to be like beyond finding his dad again.

The rest of the table returned to conversations amongst each other as they waited for Gray to finish the last of his preparations and for Erza to arrive.

Lucy couldn't help but consider that if there was going to be other things to do at the festival too, perhaps it would only be polite to ask if anyone else wants to tag along?

"Shall we see if anyone else wants to join us?" Lucy asked, looking to Natsu again and subconsciously leaning towards him so that he could hear her better over the chatter of the group. She realized that was a little silly of her, knowing he could hear her just fine from where she was.

"Nah, I just wanna hang out with you, Lucy," Natsu replied bluntly.

Lucy swore her heart skipped a beat the moment he said this. She found herself inadvertently staring at him for a moment, unsure of what exactly she was feeling. It was the strangest concoction of panic but also as if her whole body was being enveloped in a warm, puffy cloud.

"W-What…?" she managed to stutter out. "Why?"

Natsu tilted his head in thought before answering. "I dunno, I just want it to be the two of us."

Lucy found herself still again, unable to take a breath. She knew that she needed to calm herself down as she felt her mind jump to an obvious thought that she had already moved on from already.

' _He's not asking me on a date.'_

She reminded herself that before when everyone was teasing her about she and him, everybody had just seen things that weren't there and they were looking too deeply into perfectly innocent gestures between Natsu and herself. She went on to remind herself that Natsu clearly saw her as a friend and nothing more. She saw him the same way of course because she didn't have any of the signs that she liked him more – no sweaty palms for example.

' _They're sweaty right now but that doesn't mean anything.'_

Turning away to hang her head down upon realizing she was blushing again, Lucy considered what other signs that she didn't have – no rapidly beating heartbeat… or so she thought. Her heart did feel like it was beating a little too quickly.

She swiftly decided that physical signs were unreliable as they could mean _anything_. If she had an interest in a guy ' _who was_ _definitely_ _not her type'_ , there would be psychological signs too. She'd want to hang out with him all the time and be constantly messaging him. While it was true that they messaged and hung out a lot, that was mostly on his part! Then, there was the fact that she was supposed to be thinking about him all the time – that was a sign of a crush!

She slowly lifted her head to look at Natsu again who was now talking and laughing away with the others at the table. Lucy wasn't even paying attention to what anyone was even talking about. It was just Natsu and his smile, his wild hair, his scaly scarf, his loose-fitting t-shirt that hid his well-defined muscles and then was how happy he had looked when she agreed to go to the festival with him…

' _Then why do suddenly I feel disappointed about something?'_

She shook her head, frustrated that of all the times to be having these thoughts, it was right before D&D! The best she could do is rationalize them so she could get her concentration back under control.

First, she needed to remind herself that Natsu was not her type so she couldn't have a crush on him. Her type was an intellectual, a bookworm, someone who was tall, dark and handsome – that whole package. Natsu was immature, reckless and was always trying to get a rise out of her! He shouldn't affect how much she liked the way he smiled at her or found ways to make her life more exciting or how his holding of her hand made her feel so… so…

' _I don't even have a word for it.'_

Secondly, she could prove that she wasn't crushing on him by trying to imagine herself in a more romantic scenario with the man and it would either make her laugh at how daft it was or how awkward and wrong it was. All she had to do was to imagine Natsu holding her tenderly, perhaps gently cupping her face with his warm, rough hand and leaning in for a kiss-

She cut herself off from thinking about it for a second longer, feeling the heat rush to her cheeks, bring them to new heights of blushing. She shook her head again in denial again, bringing her hands up to cover her cheeks as she tried to process what she was thinking, feeling and imagining.

…She realized she needed to get to the restroom. Fast.

Lucy practically leapt from her chair, catching the attention of both Natsu and Gajeel.

"Lucy, everything okay?" Natsu asked with concern and Lucy swore her heart was racing at just hearing him say her name.

"Y-Yeah… back in a minute!" she stammered and dashed off to the restroom at the back of the store and hastily closed the door behind herself, locking it.

She turned and leaned against the back of it, looking towards the small fluorescent bulb in the ceiling.

' _I really do have a crush on him…'_

Lucy tried to play out another scene in her head – one that she often imagined with her 'ideal man' but replaced said figure with Natsu instead. It was her idea of a simple yet wonderful date – a fancy meal at a restaurant followed by a romantic walk on a beach. Just a typical romantic scene that commonly appeared in any traditional romance novel.

However, the scene didn't work at all in her mind – there was no way that Natsu would sit politely at a table and order small but beautiful portions of food for them both. That didn't even work for her anymore the more she thought about it – she changed the scene to one where they happily ate burgers wrapped in grease paper with all the extras included whilst overlooking the sea instead, just talking, laughing, holding hands. It worked for their personalities so much better… but it didn't feel romantic. It just felt… special. Unique to them.

Lucy took a breath and went to check her appearance in the mirror – still flushed but she could feel herself calming down.

' _Why am I even considering this? Natsu has no interest in me like that anyway.'_

That thought physically ached, way more than she thought it would. She was sure she'd had crushes before – there were plenty of attractive guys at her old high school that could turn her head and she had plenty of imaginative episodes of dates with them. None of them felt like this. They all felt so shallow by comparison.

Were crushes supposed to hurt like this? How in one moment she could she feel almost blissful in one moment and severely disappointed in the next?

' _Ugh, I just wanted to play D &D…'_

Lucy found herself sitting on the toilet seat, at a loss with what to do with herself. She couldn't hide in there forever nor just go home; she had a game to play and soon the group would be waiting on her.

She briefly debated just telling Natsu that she thinks she likes him as more than a friend, but then the thought of the rejection that would inevitably follow would not only cement the fact that Natsu wasn't interested in her – it could damage their friendship too.

It felt ironic to her that it wasn't long ago that she was the one rejecting Loke on an advance that wasn't even happening and now she was likely going to be the one rejected similarly by someone who only saw her in a platonic way.

She really wanted to talk to someone… Levy being the first person to come to mind. But her phone was still in her bag, back at the table. It would be awkward to explain to everyone there why she needed to take her cell back into the store's restroom with her.

Faint voices and music became evident to her very quickly the longer she stayed in there – Gray was probably picking the music for their session and everyone was soon about to start playing. She gulped nervously, hoping that at very least, her blush had resided and she could just put her feelings to one side for now. That didn't sound too hard to do on paper.

' _Just focus on the game and pretend that you haven't been sitting here, replaying scenarios out in your head about kissing Natsu, Lucy.'_

She reluctantly sighed, clenching her fists for a moment and taking a deep breath as she tried to compose herself. She checked her appearance again in the mirror – relieved she was not as pink in the cheeks thankfully. She took one final deep breath and left the restroom although beyond the door was an awful sound. Lucy couldn't begin to fathom what on Earthland Gray had picked for music.

' _Wait, there's singing accompanying it too?'_

She re-entered the shop floor and to her surprise and everyone's horror, Gajeel was sitting at the table, playing a guitar that he had presumably brought with him. Even Erza, who had undoubtedly turned up exactly on the hour, looked as though she might turn around and leave again.

The lyrics were… something else and very different from what she was used to. Lucy noted that at least he looked happy at what he was doing. She just sort of expected him to be… a little better at it.

"Will you shut the hell up already?" Natsu yelled over his singing.

The sound of Natsu's voice, no matter how frustrated it was, caught her attention and her eyes roamed over to him.

' _Okay, Lucy, you got this. Don't think those thoughts again…"_

Natsu however, caught sight of her and for a moment, their eyes locked. Thoughts of kissing him returned and she quickly broke away from looking at him as she knew that not only was telling yourself not to think about something usually resulted in the opposite effect – looking directly at him really wasn't helping either.

' _This going to be a very awkward game.'_

* * *

Lucy thought she was fine. She was in fact, trying to convince herself she was absolutely fine and that now was not the time to be crushing on a guy who was unlikely to ever reciprocate. However, one hour into their session and she was desperately trying to juggle roleplaying as Luna as well as keeping her newfound feelings in check.

The party had made their way back down the mountainside and were once again faced with traveling the exact same way they came back home to their guild to report back to their guild master and possibly face an even more powerful dragon somewhere down the line.

Erza had a better idea – to find a high-level wizard that specialized in portals. They can find one and pay them to send them all home. Then they all decided to look for any sign of a road that would guide them to a nearby town where such a mage might reside. Wendy had yet to be introduced to the group and instead remained calmly seated, eagerly watching everyone and most likely getting a feel for how the Fairy Tail game was run.

Lucy had just finished rolling for perception when Natsu was taking his turn at trying to find a direction to head in. She couldn't help but peek over at him, where he was looking more than happy with how the session was going so far and also oblivious as to what she had been thinking about.

"Can Happy roll too?" he quickly asked after a rolling poorly.

"Yeah, but remember that Erza is roleplaying as him this week if anyone wants to talk to him," Gray answered.

It must have been obvious that she had been staring as Natsu soon caught her gaze and rose an inquisitive eyebrow at her. "Something wrong?"

Lucy sat up, shaking herself out of her momentary trance with her returning flushed cheeks betraying what she was really feeling at that moment.

"F-Fine!" Lucy answered awkwardly and turning her head back to the table.

Without warning, Natsu leaned over and not so gently placed his palm on her forehead. She let out a small yelp of surprise at his sudden touch.

"You feel a bit warm – ya not getting' sick are you?" Natsu asked, concern evident in his voice.

Lucy hurriedly removed his hand from her head by grabbing his offending arm and she swore she could feel how firm he felt, much more prominently than she could before.

"Really, I'm fine, Natsu," she replied calmly although she certainly didn't feel that way. "Let's focus on the game."

Natsu didn't look convinced, but that was okay for her. As long as he wasn't reminding her of all the things she liked about him, she could play D&D just fine – then she could go home, call Levy, hope that she would pick up and together they could rationalize these feelings she was having.

Twenty minutes later and their party had found a path that might lead to a town. It took them three in-game days of travel on their characters till they were finally leaving the arid lands behind. Gray changed the background music to something more 'mysterious' and began to describe how they were starting to descend towards a valley filled with decaying trees and an ominous, overhanging fog.

The way he was saying it to them had Lucy a little nervous as he was clearly setting the scene for something spooky to happen. She had read enough fiction novels about ghosts to know a spooky setting when one was being described to her.

Once they were in the valley, making their way through the creepy forest, they spent the next hour fighting four 'will'o'wisps' which were apparently a type of evil undead monster that were small orbs of faintly glowing light.

Lucy once again found herself being relegated to healing duty and found herself looking to Wendy, wondering when she would finally be joining in. The teenager did tell her that she did a good job of keeping everyone alive so she had that going for her at least. It's not like she wouldn't be using healing spells if required or if Wendy needed assistance. Lucy was, after all, roleplaying a druid and her character would heal someone if she needed to. She never meant for Luna to be a selfish character.

It was after the combat ended that Gray announced something unexpected. "Okay, everyone but Wendy has gained a level."

"Seriously!?" Natsu yelled out. "Thanks, man!"

"Gihi. Appreciate it," Gajeel added, already making the alterations to his character sheet with his pencil. The biker had been a lot more cheerful all session, Lucy noticed when she wasn't being distracted by Natsu. He had already apologized for his rude behavior earlier, but now he was also openly playing music in person and generally becoming much more of a team player. He had also used his bard abilities to inspire various characters the moment combat started instead of holding back as he did in prior sessions.

' _Is this all because he knows Levy is coming to town soon?'_

"Can I ask how we have gained another level so quickly?" Erza asked before making any adjustments to her own sheet. It almost felt as if she believed Gray to have miscalculated somewhere.

"Easily. You guys technically did the quest to find the dragon and 'save' the princess," Gray responded confidently to her. "That alone gave you a lot of experience and the fight you just did pushed you all to level six."

Lucy had to look up the new additions a druid would gain at level six, along with what other star-related things she could do on top of that. It turns out she could earn 'cosmic omens' now after having a long rest – something that sounded very appealing to use although she could see Natsu wanting to make use of the ability for himself.

If it helped the group, she would gladly do it for him – not because she might have a tiny 'thing' for him now. Just a small 'thing' – it was no big deal.

' _Stop thinking about it, Lucy.'_

Once everyone was satisfied with leveling up on their character sheets, they continued on. It wasn't long before Gray finally began to describe a town to them after he placed down a new map on the table and placing their characters at one end of it.

"As the sun begins to set, in the distance you see a town with a dark mist that seems to be emanating from its streets," he said. "The wooden buildings look worn and there are no visible lights from anywhere."

"I wish to roll a perception check," Erza quickly announced and rolling her dice immediately. "A 14 – what does Titania see, Gray?"

Gray rolled his eyes at Erza's insinuation that she had succeeded her roll. "You don't see anything in particular although you don't see any people. In fact, you realize you haven't encountered a single traveler on the way here."

Erza turned to the rest of the group. "From the looks of things, we're unlikely to find a wizard in this town. It's much too small."

Lucy knew that Erza was metagaming – their characters hadn't even explored the town to know that but the map that Gray had presented them with demonstrated that the town was on the smaller side for sure.

"It's then that you can all hear cries for help!" Gray suddenly said with some urgency in his voice, gasping Juvia to gasp. He gestured a nod to Wendy who grinned back.

"Help! Are you all adventurers?! Please help!" Wendy said pleadingly, although she sounded happier to just be finally interacting as well placing her miniature onto the map along with her tressym's and had them both approach the group.

"Wend-" Natsu began to say calmly before correcting himself. "Um, hello, young er… girl?"

"I'm a Halfling!" Wendy said back with a chuckle. "My name is Grandeeney!"

"Well, it's nice to meet you Grandeeney!" Lucy said enthusiastically, more than happy to see Wendy finally able to join in. She wasn't sure what a 'Halfling' was but it sounded though as if it might be some sort of hobbit.

"Indeed," Erza agreed. "What appears to be the problem?"

"Well, the problem is-" Wendy began to say but stopped suddenly when she heard Gray ominously roll dice from behind his screen. Everyone looked over towards him and he offered a coy smirk back to them all.

"All of your talking has caught the attention of something," Gray said, standing up and leaning over his screen to place several new miniatures on the board, not too far from their characters… from every direction except behind them.

Lucy did not like the look of what he was placing. The miniatures looked human but were covered in cuts, torn clothes and some were missing limbs. Some weren't even human anymore – they were just skeletons!

"Zombies?!" Natsu yelled out, looking excited as he began to count them eagerly as Gray slowly placed them all. "Sixteen of them! Time for a fireball!"

"There's seventeen, ash for brains," Gray responded as he sat back down. "Anyway, you are all alerted to the groans of some hunched, shambling figures approaching you as well as the rattling of bones…"

"Oh no…" Wendy uttered.

"Roll for initiative," Gray announced.

As Lucy looked over the table at the newly placed miniatures, she hesitantly rolled her dice, unsure how they would be tackling so many monsters all at once. She counted twelve zombies and five skeletons altogether.

First up was Gajeel, who inspired Wendy with his bardic inspiration ability before attacking and cutting down the zombie closest to his character.

Erza was next to take her turn. She had Titania approach two skeletons that looked as though they approaching them from the right and swiftly made an attack roll, allowing her to take on both skeletons with ease and cutting them both down even easier.

' _Perhaps this won't be so_ _difficult_ _after all,'_ Lucy thought.

Her turn was up next and she wasted no time in having Luna go into her starry form of the archer and had her aim one of her luminous bolts at a zombie that was closest to Salamander. She swore she didn't mean to target that one in particular but she probably had protecting him in mind when she did so.

It didn't matter in the end – she missed with a poor roll. Next time, she would use one of her lucky rolls to ensure she would actually hit her target.

Wendy followed next with her character, centering herself in the middle of the group. "I'm going to use channel divinity: turn undead," she said, looking to Gray to see if this was alright to do.

Gray smiled back, "sure." He then began rolling his dice several times as everyone awaited the result of whatever it was. Lucy had no idea what Wendy just did but she did give the impression that she knew what she was doing. Not only that, but she had to have planned some of this in advance with Gray.

"You won't see the effects of your ability until it's my turn," Gray said before looking to Natsu. "You're up next, flame brain."

"'Bout time! I'm gonna cast Fireball on this group of them here!" Natsu practically yelled, sitting forward and pointing to a group of five zombies clumped together not too far from the group. Lucy began to grimace at his choice of spell – she wasn't familiar with it but it was bound to set fire to something as they were in a town made of wood.

"Roll your damage," Gray said. The fact that Natsu didn't need to roll to succeed with hitting his targets with the spell could only mean it wasn't a spell that needed to be precise. Lucy really wasn't looking forward to what it was going to do… and if Titania was able to cut down two skeleton monsters so easily, surely what Natsu was doing was going to be overkill.

Natsu rolled several dice, borrowing some from Gray's spare dice tray to do so. Lucy felt her eyes bulge at how many he was using.

' _Just how destructive was this going to be?!'_

Natsu began to count the dice but Gray was faster at it, "37."

"How much?!" Gajeel gasped at the unusually high damage amount. "Seriously, you can do that much now?"

"Yep – that's 'cause fire's the best," Natsu said smugly back.

Gajeel grumbled as Gray shook his head at the two of them. "Well, I can safely say you incinerated all five of them, Natsu."

Natsu smashed his fist into his palm, grinning from ear to ear. "I can't wait to do that again!"

"You also set fire to a nearby building," Gray added, placing a neatly cut out drawing of a fire on top of a house on the hand-drawn map.

Lucy rolled her eyes at her recently discovered crush. Whilst impressive, he really didn't need to go that overboard.

Juvia thankfully came to the rescue, cunningly approaching the burning building with her character and having her use the 'Shape Water' cantrip to direct water from a nearby well onto the flames, putting them out.

With everyone having taken a turn, Gray finally took his. "Alright, these four zombies start uh, _'running'_ away as fast as they can from you," he said, looking to Wendy and moving four of the miniatures to the very edge of the board.

The remaining shambling zombies approached Titania and Rain Woman first, probably because they were currently closest to them. Three skeletons also proceeded to aim with their bows at the party too before shooting.

When all was said and done, Titania had taken a small amount of damage and Juvia was unharmed. Luna, however, had received two hits from the skeleton's arrows and Lucy briefly wondered if she had some sort of target on her back for monsters. Not only that but she swore she caught Natsu scowling when Gray announced how much damage Luna had taken.

' _He'd better not cast another fireball…'_

It was then that Gray placed five more zombies on the board to everyone's horror… aside from Natsu. He looked more than pleased to have more opponents.

The next round repeated in the same order again. Metalicana took out a zombie, Titania took out two more skeletons and Lucy used her lucky roll to finally succeed on taking out two of the newly placed zombies with both a spell and luminous arrow. Grandeeney used a small healing spell on Titania and then Natsu's turn came around again.

Lucy almost groaned when she heard the excitement in his voice as it could only mean that there was another fireball spell surely coming. He looked so happy about his reckless destruction too…

To her surprise, Natsu did not go on to use the fireball spell again and instead opted for his Dragon's Breath, burning two approaching zombies to a crisp successfully.

' _Maybe he's not totally reckless.'_

Juvia finally got to deal damage with her acid splash before Gray took his turn with controlling the undead again. Once again, everyone took minimal damage from the remaining monsters but several more zombies and two skeletons were added by Gray to the board. Lucy had no idea how long their dungeon master planned on introducing more and more of them but she realized that this would chip away at everyone's spells and health quite quickly. Wendy couldn't heal forever and neither could she if it were needed.

Another round went by and Gray introduced another set of zombies. It didn't help that Erza and Gajeel were unlucky on their attacks during their turns either. By the time the round after that begun, there were around twenty zombies still on the board and Wendy was focusing on healing on each of her turns over doing anything else.

It was only after six rounds in total had passed that Gray stopped adding any more monsters and the group made short work of the ones remaining.

"Phew!" Lucy said loudly, relieved that combat was finally over. Out of habit, she looked to Natsu and was reminded of the fact that she had been fantasizing about kissing him earlier. She rapidly looked away, silently cursing herself for not staying focused on the game.

"So, as you were saying?" Erza said, turning and looking to Wendy.

"Oh, right!" Wendy replied as though she had forgotten why she was there – combat had taken a while after all. "This is the town of Nirvana – I am originally from here before I left to train as a cleric. Something's happened to it and now the undead are everywhere!" she roleplayed.

"You're a cleric?" Gajeel asked. "What kind?"

"I follow the good dragon god, Bahumut! He's the best god ever!" she answered proudly.

"Dragon god?" Natsu questioned. "Can he tell me where _my_ dragon is?"

"Um-" Juvia interjected shyly. "Juvia thinks we talk about this later before more of those things come."

"I agree. Let us enter the town and look for survivors," Erza said sternly, moving everyone along.

The party moved through the town with gentle steps, each taking a turn as Gray instructed to make the exploration easier for him to manage. Nobody aside from Natsu used their full movement on each of their turns as they took the time to inspect some of the buildings – some were ransacked, some were boarded up according to Gray's description. No survivors thus far.

For each turn he took, Lucy found her eyes gazing over to Natsu and inadvertently smiling. After the last session where he didn't actually get to fight a dragon, he looked quite content exploring the ruined town with his fire spells ready to go. At one point, Lucy noticed that a lock of his hair in his front had fallen a little in front of his face and she resisted the urge to reach out and push it out of the way for him, wondering if his hair was just as soft as it was all those weeks ago.

' _Argh! get a grip, Lucy!'_

They ended up battling a smaller group of zombies without any skeleton archers to worry about once they were further into town. Lucy resisted using her starry form for a second time as she suspected there were more zombies to come sooner rather than later. She couldn't say she was looking forward to it. The whole idea of zombies alone creeped her out and even though the skeletons didn't seem as scary as rotting humans – the fact they were using ranged weapons had her on edge.

"Juvia thinks we should look in the tavern," Juvia suggested on her turn, finding a building with a sign hanging off its hinges that indicated that it used to be an inn of sorts. "Perhaps any survivors would have grouped up in here?"

"It's where I'd go," Gajeel agreed. "It'll have beer, food and probably a cellar where they keep the supplies."

"What about fighting more zombies?" Natsu asked. "I've still got plenty of fire spells!"

"No! We don't know how many there are and the town is probably overrun!" Lucy quickly interjected, ignoring any niggling thoughts she was currently having regarding Natsu and wanting to avoid the zombies if she could. She knew a little about them from some of her fictional books, not that it necessarily translated to D&D, but what if the zombie could well, _'zombify'_ any of them? She shuddered at the thought.

Natsu pouted for a moment and Lucy tried not to tell herself that it was a _little_ bit cute. "Fine…" he grumbled.

Erza had to do a strength check to ram the barricaded inn door down after she called out to any surviving villagers who might be inside. They had to be fast as it was likely her shouts had probably caught the attention of more of the undead. Gray informed her that nobody replied.

The group made their way inside and found the first floor eerily empty and abandoned. Gray described tables and chairs having been broken and toppled, the bar area filled with broken casks and smashed glass.

"Let barricade the door back up again," Erza instructed.

Gajeel and Natsu went about grabbing furniture to pile up against the door as Lucy and Juvia went about cautiously checking out the rooms adjoining the main area. They quickly discovered a kitchen filled with rotting food – although whether it was from age or from the undead presence was not known to either of them.

"I'm going to detect evil and good– it's one of my spells," Wendy said calmly to the group. "It should help us sense if any undead are really close by."

"Okay," Gray replied before taking a moment to reply. "You get the feeling that there is evil all around you but nothing is really concentrated in one area."

"'All around you?'" Gajeel echoed. "You mean around the building or does that include the upstairs as well?"

Gray stayed silent but Lucy figured that Gajeel was onto something.

"I don't think we're safe unless we check out upstairs," she said to him to which he nodded.

"Yeah… wanna check it out, bunny girl?"

Natsu, to little surprise, was quick to jump in on this. "I'm gonna check it out too! Metalhead doesn't have crazy good fire spells like I do!"

"Alright, you three head upstairs and shout if you find anything. There doesn't seem to be any survivors here but we should find the entrance to the cellar just to be sure they're not there," Erza said.

"The four of us – Happy's comin' too," Natsu interjected and grabbing the miniature of Happy.

"Alright, we'll do the upstairs 'group' first then," Gray said as Lucy, Natsu and Gajeel all moved their characters as well as Happy to a different map on the table.

One by one, they checked each bedroom of the inn before encountering the final room with Natsu having Salamander slam the door open for no clear reason.

" _And_ roll initiative as you encounter three zombies in that room," Gray said.

That round of combat was quick, seeing as the zombies were so few in number that time and went down easily.

"Do you think the zombies can climb up to the windows up here?" Lucy asked.

"Doubt it," Gajeel answered. "They seem kinda dumb."

Gray then switched to the remaining members of the group who also encountered some zombies that had managed to break in through in a back room downstairs. Their combat was equally as quick, followed by them looking for a way to seal off the window that the zombies had broken through.

Lucy, Natsu and Gajeel had their characters return downstairs and hold a brief reunion with their characters where they explained what had happened.

"I think we should have a rest – everyone is getting low on spells," Lucy said but remained unsure of how their characters could possibly rest in an undead infested town where zombies and armed skeletons seemed to be everywhere.

"I agree with Lucy," Wendy said. "I've also used quite a few of my spells."

"What about you, Natsu, Juvia?" Erza asked.

"Nah, I'm fine – I can just punch the zombies if I need to," Natsu said confidently.

"Are you stupid or something?" Gajeel asked in disbelief. "Use a weapon or something, not your fists!"

"Why not?"

"What if they infect you or something?"

Lucy tensed, realizing that perhaps that really was something that could happen. What would even happen to their characters then? Would they count as being dead or would they have to play as a zombie from now on?

' _It's horrible just thinking about it!'_

"Zombies can't infect you," Wendy said shyly over both of them. "But if you die here, you might turn into one anyway so please be safe!"

Lucy let out a sigh of relief. The thought of Luna turning green and walking around without eyes or limbs was nightmarish to imagine and not something she wanted to write about in her story. She wasn't sure how they could just 'turn' into one but she wasn't in any hurry to find out how that worked either. The only thing more horrifying than Luna turning into one was the thought of having to fight any of her 'zombiefied' companions.

"I think the zombies are pretty scary," Wendy then said to the group, looking nervous for all of them.

"It'll be fine! We're all here together aren't we?" Natsu said. "Nothing can stop us now – we'll beat these undead outta town and then go fight that dragon!"

Lucy could only shake her head at him. Thankfully, all this talk of the undead was doing a great job at keeping her unrestrained feelings in check for now. _'_ _I was wrong before_ _though_ _– he clearly thinks about dragons as much as he does food.'_

"In which case, perhaps we should use the time to figure out what our magic items do," Erza suggested. "A short rest would be appropriate – any longer and we might lose any survivors that are still in the town."

"We won't get any spells back that way…" Wendy said sadly.

"I know, but I for one don't think it's safe to sleep here. If you can save whatever spells you still have for any dire situations that might come our way, then we can just focus on looking for survivors and finding out what happened here," Erza replied.

Lucy had to admit that Erza made a good point and she personally hoped that the two more rambunctious members of the group to her sides could be a little more tactful about tackling this scenario that Gray at presented to them.

Everyone took a short rest and to their surprise, they found that Wendy could conjure food and water. She reasoned that if they were going to find out what happened here, everyone shouldn't need to worry about eating for a while. Gray described that the food was just bland bread but filling for them all.

"Did anyone check the cellar yet?" Gajeel asked, moving his character to the kitchen where a trap door was.

"No, we were too busy fighting the undead to get the time to check it out," Erza replied.

"Juvia did check!" Juvia said, speaking up. "But it seemed to be barricaded from the other side."

"Survivors?" Lucy suggested, finding herself looking to Natsu who seemed to take her suggestion as more of a statement.

"Alright! I'll go break it down!" Natsu said, moving his character to the cellar's entrance.

Lucy found that both she and Erza were together shouting for him not to, but Natsu already rolled his dice saying that he would do a strength check to break his way through.

"Too late, he's already rolled," Gray informed them before he began rolling too from behind his screen.

Natsu rolled an 18, a definite success as Gray went on to confirm when he started to describe the barricaded door breaking into pieces.

"The wood pieces of the door loudly splinter and break – you're able to make your way down now. What do you do next?" Gray asked, already shaking his head tiredly at Natsu.

"I think-" Gajeel begun to say.

"I'm gonna shout… 'if there's any survivors to come on up already! If you're a zombie, come fight me!'" Natsu cut in loudly.

Lucy felt ready to smack her forehead in frustration.

' _Why on Earthland did he do that?!'_

"We're supposed to be keeping quiet!" Erza said angrily.

Everyone went silent as Gray began rolling a series of dice behind his screen…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lucy has finally had a lightbulb moment regarding her feelings! Natsu on the other hand… did I mention this was a slow burn? I think I should probably say it again.
> 
> I've played in three fairly long campaigns as a player in D&D over the last 5 years and in each one of them, at some point, the undead gets involved, especially if we have a paladin or cleric in our group… and now the Fairy Tail group has a dedicated healer that specialises in dealing with the undead!
> 
> The Magnolia Harvest Festival in the canon story takes place on October 15th so I wanted to keep that tradition in this story too.
> 
> As we're entering December in real life now, I'm going to let you know that I won't be updating as frequently during the festive period unless I have some insane bursts of writing inspiration that cause me to write exceedingly quickly! I hope to get two chapters out at least and I'm still on the fence about writing a short Xmas fic on the side.
> 
> .x
> 
> I also want to recommend that if you would love a darker, more mature but still a wonderfully NaLu story with a zombie apocalypse in mind, go check out mushi9's 'Capturing her Damaged Heart' fic. (The characters certainly take it more seriously there than they did here!)
> 
> .x
> 
> Next Chapter: Taking down the undead threat and Lucy's still processing her feelings
> 
> D&D Terms:  
> Bahumut: The Dragon God of Justice, Mercy, Wisdom, Good Dragons and Wind. He seemed like a fitting God for Wendy to follow!  
> Undead etc.: How the undead work in D&D is generally up to the dungeon master for the game they have in mind, but, as standard, skeletons and zombies are usually created when someone has been using necromancy magic – either raising the dead on purpose or using a lot/powerful necromancy spells in an area that's saturated the atmosphere enough to cause the dead to rise on their own.  
> Skeletons: They are smarter than zombies and require the corpse to have been dead for some time. They can use weapons.  
> Zombies: Slow, easy to kill but can come back without the use of critical hit or radiant damage. They are also often found in large groups. They can't 'turn' you but if your character dies in a concentrated area of residual necromancy magic, it will probably rise as one.


	24. The Town of Nirvana – Part II

**Saturday** **,** **October** **10th**

Personally, Natsu didn't really see what the problem was. So far, everything Gray had been throwing at them all was unbelievably easy. He thought zombies were a cool idea but man did they go down without him having to do much. There were a lot of them but he could just spam his Firebolt cantrip if it came to it.

Entering the basement and finding out what was down there seemed like a problem that was better solved right there and then. If there were people there, great! They'd rescue 'em and Gray can practice some more silly voices. If they were zombies – even stronger zombies or maybe even some kind of skeleton monstrosity, then that would be so much more challenging and fun to deal with!

"I need a minute," Gray muttered after rolling his dice as he began to flick through his Dungeon Master's Guidebook. This had Natsu waiting somewhat impatiently in the anticipation that something big was coming.

He glanced over to Lucy, she being nervous, most likely because of all the complaints about spells and healing that everyone was making. They'd be fine – he knew they would be. She was being a kind of more weird than usual, what with her slightly pink face as if she were cold or her eyes being real shifty around him. Whatever was bothering her, he was curious to know, but at the same time, he figured it was best to let her tell him when she wanted to. If it was something bad, she wouldn't keep it from him.

Gray flicked another page and the table was quiet. So quiet that he could hear Gajeel impatiently tapping his foot and Wendy's anxious breathing. Everyone had always said he had great hearing, although, they had said the same about those two players in particular as well so it was probably just a case of everybody else having bad hearing.

He looked over at Lucy once more, wondering again what was bothering her that had her fidgeting about so much. Did she badly need to use the toilet again or something?

Maybe she was just a bit scared of the undead much like Wendy was… which had him quickly thinking of all the horror movies he knew had zombies in them that he could potentially scare her with over Halloween. He could bring his PlayStation over to hers now that she had a TV, hook it up and prank her by telling her they were gonna watch something sappy instead.

He grinned mischievously just thinking about her reaction at the first jump scare – she'd cling on to him and then tell him off, although her words were always harmless. That was fine though, the thought of her hiding under a blanket with him was appealing in an odd way. He'd never want to do that with any of his other friends but Lucy was… a different kind of friend?

Natsu didn't really linger on thinking about that as it didn't seem to matter all that much and he found that he was getting distracted by a sound that he was picking up now that everyone at the table was apprehensively silent.

He turned his head as he tried to hone in on the sound – was it crying maybe? Or high-pitched… whining?

He abruptly stood up at the table, startling Juvia and Lucy beside him as he tried to focus in on the sound. He was fairly certain it was coming outside.

"Natsu?" Lucy said as she gazed up at him before harshly looking away again.

"Sshhh... can you hear that?" he responded.

"… No?"

"I think I hear something too," Wendy said quietly, looking towards the back of the store.

"Yeah, it's outside around the back I think – I'm gonna check it out," Natsu said, abandoning the table.

Gray looked up somewhat aggravated. "Hey, what about our game, man?"

"It'll only take a minute," Natsu answered, ignoring the Dungeon Master's protests and going to where he knew where the back door was… well a fire exit, but he thought of it as the store's 'second door' that he had been barred from using as Mira complained that it set off the fire alarms every time.

He caught the sound again, quickly recognizing what it was this time and wasted no time in pushing down the door's handlebar to get outside as fast he could.

It had definitely been a mewing sound – a cry for help.

Natsu quickly honed in on what he was looking for as the fire alarm droned out behind him and he cautiously stepped around to the old dumpster that sat out back, not wanting to startle anything.

Despite the all of the noise he had set off in the store, Natsu picked up the mewing once again, quickly finding a fresh, downturned cardboard box that suggested that it had transported beef jerky at some point or another. He was certain the mewing was coming from inside the box and was confident it belonged to a cat at this point. From the way the box was sitting, it was most likely that it had jumped into the box and toppled it over, trapping it inside.

Careful to not scare the creature too much, Natsu gingerly lifted the box up after waiting for the fire alarm to stop and was expecting to see a cat flee as feral strays weren't all that uncommon to spot around town. To his astoundment, he saw not a cat, but a kitten, confused and probably scared too.

"Hey little guy," Natsu said quietly, slowly reaching forward with his hands to gently cup the creature as he carefully watched it for any sudden movements. Picking it up, he couldn't help but notice the greyish-blue fur it sported, reminding him of the paint job Lucy did on Happy's miniature.

"Hey, Natsu?" Lucy's voice from behind. "The guys wanted me to find out what you're-"

Natsu spun around, unable to hide the excitement in his eyes and smile. He was holding a baby cat!

"Is that a kitten?!" Lucy asked as she stared at him in a mixture of awe and bewilderment.

"Yeah, he was trapped under a box," Natsu replied, holding up the creature to his nose and giving it a sniff. "He doesn't smell too bad either so he can't have been there for long."

The kitten let out another mew, evidently calling out for its mother but Natsu couldn't pick up any other sounds, nor see any grown-up cats nearby.

"Aww…" Lucy cooed, unable to resist the kitten and approached them both. Natsu pulled the kitten a little closer to himself, thinking for a moment that Lucy might try and take the kitten from him before he realized that she would never do that. Unexpectedly, the kitten briefly came into contact with the scarf around his neck and began to rub against it as if it had found another cat.

"Where's its mom?" Lucy asked, peering around.

"Dunno, maybe Lisanna knows? She likes to leave out food for the strays sometimes," Natsu answered as he tentatively moved a finger to gently stroke the kitten's head. To his delight, it seemed to like that and Natsu selfishly hoped that its mom wouldn't come back so that he could raise it himself.

Then he asked himself if that would be fair on the kitten – to be raised in his tiny studio apartment in the dodgy section of town. Natsu found himself looking to Lucy as she continued to coo over it, stroking it lightly with a single digit of her finger as well.

' _Maybe I could keep him at Lucy's place?'_

"Aww, what a cutie!" Lucy said as her finger moved to under the kitten's chin where she stroked it a little harder, eliciting a tiny purr from it. "I've always thought of myself as more of a dog person but now I'm not so sure."

"We should go see if he wants something to eat!" Natsu declared to her, knowing that's what he would want if he had been trapped under a box. Cradling the kitten to his chest, he fixated on it fully as he walked back into the building with Lucy following behind, not noticing the curious looks she was giving him.

"Finally- did you have to set off the alarm, fire clown?" Gray said as he spotted Natsu return inside, clearly pissed a little at him.

Natsu ignored him as he approached the register, the kitten catching Lisanna's attention immediately as she looked at it with obvious recognition.

"Natsu! Where did you- oh no…" she said, shaking her head disappointingly. "Was this kitten on its own?"

"Yeah! How did ya guess?" he answered, holding the kitten out to her for her to inspect it. "It was trapped under a box."

"And its mom wasn't around?" Lisanna asked.

Natsu was glad that Lisanna knew so much about cats in general – she always used to talk about wanting to be a vet or something one day although, for whatever reason, she never did become one. If he was gonna have a cat one day – possibly this one, then having a friend who knew a lot of stuff about them was gonna be a bonus.

"Nah, didn't see another cat. You got any food for it?"

"Yeah, hang on," Lisanna replied as she hurried off to the storeroom. Natsu turned back to the table, his group's impatient looks were gone as they looked to the kitten in his palms. Lucy had already sat back down and she offered him a reassuring smile before looking back to the table quickly again.

' _Seriously, why is she so jittery tonight?'_

Natsu continued to stroke the cat as it seemed to enjoy the warmth of his hands combined with the softness of his scarf. If it really was all on its own, he would try his best to look after it. It could be like his tressym from the game and he'd call it Happy and then he'd keep it at Lucy's where he knew she would be nice to it as well and-

"Surely you're not thinking of keeping that thing, Salamander?" Gajeel judgingly said.

"What if I am?" Natsu answered back defensively.

"Gajeel's got a point, Natsu. Are you sure you want to take on a very young kitten by yourself?" Erza asked.

Natsu glared at her, his hand stroking the kitten a little more. "I can handle it and it won't be on my own 'cause I've got Lucy and Lis-"

"Eh? Why am I involved in this?" Lucy interrupted, looking at him in bewilderment.

"Why wouldn't you be?" Natsu asked, raising an eyebrow at her. It seemed only natural to him that she would want to look after the kitten too. Together, he bet they'd be good at it. He'd bring home treats and stuff and she would make sure it was happy in her cozy, nice-smelling apartment – the image he had in his head of them taking care of Happy just _'worked'_ when he thought about it.

"I've got some food!" Lisanna called as she re-entered the room, disrupting any further response from Lucy. Natsu quickly approached her, following her back to the register as she went to grab a small dish from behind the counter before opening a bottle of kitten formula. Lisanna poured a small amount out into the dish and signaled for Natsu to put the kitten down on the counter and see if it wanted to drink any of it.

The kitten was apprehensive at first, but the smell of it was all too tempting as it quickly approached the dish and was quick to tuck in. Natsu couldn't help but smile, glad that it hadn't lost its appetite.

As the group at the table began to mutter with one another, Lisanna turned to Natsu with a sad smile. "So, there was this mommy cat in the neighborhood that's been coming around that I've been feeding and I think this kitten was from her litter."

"Do you think it got lost or somethin'?" Natsu asked as he continued to watch it lap up the milk.

"I think its mom rejected it actually – she was showing all the signs. I bought some kitten milk, just in case this happened."

"Rejected huh?" Natsu said somberly, feeling an instant connection to the creature. Knowing that the kitten had just been left behind all on his own quickly helped make Natsu make the decision that he was definitely going to take care of him from now on. "He's coming home with me."

"He? You think it's a boy, Natsu?"

"Yeah, my gut tells me he is."

"Well, only one way to find out," Lisanna said, picking up the kitten briefly to lift up its tail and take a look at its behind for a couple of seconds. Natsu was gonna ask Lisanna if she had turned into some sort of cat pervert but she answered him first.

"Oh yeah, he's a boy alright!" she confirmed and put him back down so he could continue to drink the milk. Natsu continued to watch him quietly, not paying much attention to Lisanna's rambling about all the cats she knew about after that. The only cat he cared about right now was the one in front of him.

Soon, the kitten wandered up to Natsu again after drinking most of the milk in the dish and finding some of his scarf that was flopped on the side of the counter to snuggle up into.

"You should let him rest, so just go back and play your game," Lisanna said quietly. "I'll keep an eye on him, don't worry."

Natsu nodded, knowing that the guys at the table were getting impatient. He uncoiled the scarf from around his neck for the kitten so it could stay cuddled up in it before returning to take his seat across the room. He had completely forgotten about what they had been doing during their D&D game but for now, that didn't really matter as he looked back at the sleeping kitten. Perhaps his idea of having his own house with a cat in the forest wasn't so far off as he originally thought.

* * *

"Salamander, you immediately hear loud groaning, recognizing them easily as the same noises that the zombies earlier were making," Gray explained calmly, looking none-too-amused by his slouched pose. Natsu was a little disappointed, knowing it was just more of the same. "Everyone, roll initiative."

To Natsu's dismay, he rolled a 2 which left his character last to react. It was dumb in his opinion, seeing as he was the one that demanded that whatever was in the basement come up and fight. It didn't help that ice dick was probably taking pleasure in him taking his turn after everyone else.

Lo and behold, Gray threw another twenty weak zombies at them. Everyone probably came to the same idea to spam their cantrips to save on spells. By the time his turn came around, only half of the zombies were left. He did a firebolt and reluctantly ended his turn without doing anything more fun. When was Gray going to throw a boss at them or something?

It was then that Gray started having some zombies get back up, despite the group's attacks clearly killing them.

' _Way to drag this fight out, you popsicle pervert.'_

After what felt like forever of fighting these annoying things – zombies were definitely fun to fight against, but not over and over and over again like this, Lucy breathed a sigh of relief next him before being happy that everyone had made it through, albeit with a few injuries.

"Salamander, could you not make such rash decisions like that?" Erza said, acting in character for once.

"It got the job done, didn't it?" Natsu responded. "So there are no survivors – I'm gonna see what else is down there."

"Wait! We'll come with you," Wendy said. "Let's not split up, okay?"

Gray began to describe their descent down 'rickety old stairs', each passing the zombie corpses as they remained on high alert in case they rose again. It was when Gray began to talk about how dark the cellar was that Natsu knew his character wouldn't be able to see anything. Lucy's wouldn't either but Erza's could. He wasn't sure about Wendy or Juvia.

"We really need to figure out what our magical items are," Lucy said after Gray asked them what they wanted to do next.

"We can look into that after this," Erza replied. "Can I roll a perception check to have a look around?"

"Sure," Gray answered.

Erza rolled, scoring well as per usual – a 17.

"Alright, the cellar is dank and smells rotten. You think that whatever was down here has gone off, or perhaps it's coming from the zombie corpses. As you look around, you find a discarded book on the floor and it looks out of place down here," Gray described for her.

' _No big monsters then.'_

"Alright, I'll go pick it up," Erza stated.

"Be careful! Juvia thinks it could be cursed!" Juvia quickly added, Natsu turning to look at her only to see her looking concerned. It didn't make much sense to him that everyone was on edge so much. Surely they just had to find whatever did all this and put a stop to it?

Erza shook her head at Juvia. "It's a possibility but we should take a look at it first, just to see what it's about."

"Yeah, Erza's got a point. We need some sort of clue as to what's going on here," Lucy added and Natsu found himself grinning at her in agreement. For whatever reason, that made her lower her head down when she looked at him.

He put thoughts of her extra strange weirdness aside for now, choosing to look briefly past her shoulder over to the register where Happy was still sleeping in scarf. Lucy being weird can wait as far as he was concerned, the kitten seemed a little more important.

The group returned to the first floor of the inn and it was suggested that Luna look at the tome first. Natsu knew she loved books and stuff so that made sense, but he didn't really like the idea of her character being put at risk from a potential curse. Natsu took a look at his spell sheet, wondering what he could cast if something bad were to happen and then thinking whether he should take a few non-fire based spells on his next level up.

"Luna, you are quickly able to discern that the book is a diary. Do you want to read it?" Gray asked her.

"After an Arcana check to make sure it's not magical," Lucy replied.

"Good idea," Erza commended her.

Lucy rolled, scoring averagely which led to a drawn-out reply from Gray about how the book seemed perfectly safe and not magical in nature. "I'll read it then," was her response.

Natsu listened to Gray for what he reckoned was probably a good five minutes. It was long and many parts of it were boring – some diary belonging to a villager about the weird goings-on in town before the zombie stuff happened. Normally, Natsu liked listening to these plots, especially when playing any kind of video game with that kind of story in it – but he felt impatient. He was still itching to fight a strong opponent already.

 _"Day 34 – another man has gone missing. We looked high and low for him and wondered if he had become lost in the forest. The temple's cleric assured us that we shouldn't be worried,"_ Gray said, rolling each entry off his tongue in succession unless someone asked him to stop. _"Day 37 – a woman went missing this time. It happened at night as well. We asked the cleric for guidance about what to do but he said that all will be well."_

"Huh," Lucy said, sitting forward. "It sounds like this cleric is the one to talk to."

"Everyone seems to be a zombie though," Juvia said, looking a little forlorn about their situation.

"Ain't you a cleric?" Gajeel asked, poking Wendy lightly on the shoulder.

"Yes but, I don't know anything more than anyone else here…" she answered apologetically.

Natsu didn't even get why they were even debating this. They should just go look for the cleric that the diary mentioned or what was left of him if he was a goner too. They weren't going to be getting any answers just sitting around.

"You said a cleric right? And there's a temple? I'm gonna go there," Natsu declared, breaking into the conversation finally.

"Not by yourself, you're not!" Erza quickly interjected followed by intently frowning at him.

"What good is it gonna do us just sittin' around?" Natsu asked. "Let's go!"

"No, we will take a short rest to attune to our magical items."

Natsu disappointingly sighed. They didn't _need_ the items for this he was pretty sure. Still, he was curious to find out what his did, the 'Dragon's Flame Gloves'.

"You'll all going to do that then?" Gray asked.

"Yes," Erza answered for all of them.

One short rest later and everyone had regained a little bit of health. Gray began to recite how everyone's magical items worked save for Wendy. She didn't seem to mind, stating that her character already had two magic items from her last campaign that Gray had pre-approved that she could use before joining the game.

Erza found out first that her armor allowed her to do a magical cantrip that involved some swords or something. It sounded cool but Natsu was still waiting to see what his did, annoyed when Gajeel got a description for his next – something about giving people advantage on attack rolls when he plays a chord using the guitar he got.

Lucy's did catch Natsu's interest briefly though – anything she had to defend herself with would be great for her character and lessen the chances of Luna getting seriously hurt. Apparently, she could use her whip to use her close-range spells from further away and it did bonus radiant damage too.

' _That sounds like it will definitely keep her safe.'_

When Gray announced Juvia's next, annoying Natsu as Gray had clearly meant for him to go last, he went on to describe something to do with water. By that point, Natsu had stopped paying attention and looked over to the sleeping kitten again. He still looked content and warm, settling Natsu just a little.

"Okay, Natsu-" Gray said, gaining his attention.

"Yeah? What do the gloves do?" Natsu asked, impatiently interrupting him and taking out his pencil in preparation to write down what Gray was going to tell him.

"When wearing those gloves, you can add fire damage to your unarmed attacks as well as use them to set fire to things."

Natsu's eyes first went wide, then he grinned, then he slammed his fist on the table in disbelief that Gray would ever give him something like that in the first place. They didn't come with any good spells or anything attached but punching things with fire sounded fun.

"Thanks, man!" he replied as he went about jotting down the details. He tried to make sure his spelling was alright this time, not wanting to confuse himself later.

With everyone's items identified, Natsu was quick to suggest they get going again to find the temple.

"This is the town my character is from," Wendy began to say shyly, "so she must know where it is, wouldn't she?"

"Yeah, do you tell the rest of your party?" Gray asked her.

"Yes. I want to be helpful to everyone!"

Finally, after what felt like forever, the group got moving again. One by one, they took their turns tentatively by using the previous initiative rolls to decide on what order everyone would go in much to Natsu's annoyance as he was going last. It wasn't so bad, he could at least make sure he could cover them if they were attacked from behind.

Gray began to describe the town to them again they worked their way through the map towards the building that Wendy's character knew about. Based on how many zombies and walking skeletons that they ran into earlier, Natsu guessed that walking to the temple wasn't going to go without running into more of them. That proved to be correct when Gray suddenly threw twenty of them at them all mid-way there.

"Save your spells!" Erza commanded them all as they went into combat.

The battle actually went easier with their magic items – Luna was hitting things with her whip and it was doing a good job at making sure the zombies stayed dead. Natsu had Salamander start punching things whilst wearing the magic gloves, enjoying himself when Gray described the zombies catching fire on every hit. Wendy's character was the real warrior there, however, as her magic easily took out zombies better than the rest of them.

Eventually, they reached the temple to which Gray described as being dark and boarded up.

Gajeel was cracking his fingers as he had his dice at the ready. Natsu found it weird to see him looking well… kind of happier for once. He didn't really care what Metal Head did with his time but if it meant he wasn't going to be such an ass to everyone, he was all for it. His best guess was it was to do with Levy visiting although the two of them hadn't seen each other since she moved away. "What's the plan?" he asked.

"Well, we don't know what to expect other than that the cleric seemed unconcerned about the missing people in the town," Lucy answered for him as she raised her fingers to her chin in thought. Natsu wasn't sure why he liked it when she did that gesture – probably because she always came up with a good plan whenever she did. "We need a way to look inside without alerting anything that might be in there."

"Yeah, good thinkin' bunny girl!" Gajeel complimented causing Natsu to cock his head at him as though he was trying to discern why he was being nice to her.

Lucy, however, just smiled back and Natsu shrugged off any further thoughts. If she was alright with him being nice for a change, that was good enough for him.

"Juvia has a suggestion," Juvia said from beside Natsu. "You're a druid right, Lucy?"

"Well, yeah," Lucy answered, "why do you ask?"

"You could turn into a small animal perhaps?" Juvia suggested. "Instead of doing that star form that you normally do."

"Uh-"

"Bunny girl can be a literal bunny!" Gajeel barked, grinning wryly at her.

Natsu had considered that with her being a druid, she could still do that stuff but she preferred using her star forms. Seeing her turn into animals did seem like a fun idea but… should she really be going in alone as a lizard or something? He was conflicted on how to feel about it.

"What if you get caught?" Natsu asked, unable to hide the concern in his voice very easily. If he only could turn into an animal too, then at least she wouldn't be alone with whatever might be in there.

"I'll probably be fine," Lucy said, looking strangely confident. "Besides, it's all down to the luck of the dice! And I have plenty of lucky rolls ready!"

"Just be careful," Erza said calmly. "Come back to us as soon as you see what is in there."

"I still have to decide what to turn into," she said. "I don't think a bunny will help us…"

"Turn into something that can fly!" Wendy suggested. "That way you can try and find a way in from above!"

After a quick debate about what would be the best choice, Natsu offering several suggestions before suggesting that she turn into a dragon – even just a small one, which wasn't an option apparently, Gray reminded them all that Lucy wouldn't be able to turn into a flying creature as she was still too low level for that. After listening to some observation from Erza about the building, Lucy concluded that she could probably turn into a mouse so she could easily slip in through the cracks in the building.

"So, you're definitely going in as a mouse?" Gray asked her.

"Yeah, I think I can do that," Lucy replied. "So, uh, I'm a mouse."

Gray nodded at her, before suddenly freezing in place in abject horror as if something had suddenly struck him hard. His eyes went wide as he slowly looked towards Juvia to which she looked to him in concern at his sudden behavior. "Shit, I forgot about this," Gray said quietly.

"Forgot what?" Juvia asked him, looking more worried now, her hand reaching out to grasp his.

"That uh…. damn, how do I put this…" Gray muttered, his eyes shifting awkwardly as his cheeks turned pink.

"Spit out already, ya ice bastard," Gajeel barked.

Natsu had no idea what was going on with him – how hard was it for him to deal with Lucy's character being a mouse?

"Lucy, uh…" Gray said looking to Lucy before harshly turning back to Juvia. "Look- this was just in the rules I set before she even joined so don't get mad at me, Juvia,"

"What is it?" Juvia asked again, growing more and more concerned as her eyes bore into him.

"So Luna, uh, drops all of her equipment that she's carrying…" Gray said, looking even more shy at that point.

"What's so bad about that? We can just hold it for her," Natsu stated.

"No – she drops everything, including uh, what she's wearing," Gray said awkwardly, turning his head away from them all in embarrassment, avoiding Juvia's gaze in particular.

"Lucy is… _naked_?!" Juvia said, her jaw quickly hanging loose at the thought.

"Seriously?!" Lucy near yelled. "Why did none of you tell me this would happen!?"

"She's not even naked like that – she's a mouse! I forgot I put that rule in! It was meant to be for any of the guys who picked playing a druid and thought they could cheese their way through a situation or something!" Gray said, trying to justify himself.

"Oh, so you want to see men naked now?!" Juvia said loudly. "Juvia doesn't want to compete with men as well as Lucy!"

Natsu couldn't help but snicker at Juvia's overreaction as Gray hopelessly protested against her words. "Explains why he's a stripper," Natsu simply said.

"I don't want to look at anyone naked!" Gray protested.

"But Juvia can be naked for you-" his not-girlfriend replied.

"Argh! I'm calling a recess!" Gray yelled, standing up and quickly heading to the front door.

Gajeel shrugged, clearly finding the situation amusing but said nothing as he went to grab a cigarette and also headed out. Juvia promptly followed them both as well. Whereas Natsu was disappointed to have taken a break already, that didn't beat checking on the real Happy, still sleeping in his scarf. Natsu resisted the urge to wake him and could only stare for now, trying to think of ways he could take care of him properly.

Happy was gonna need toys to keep him entertained when he was at work. He'd need a scratching post too but then again, Happy might be happy just scratching anything he liked. He didn't know how Lucy would feel about him scratching up her stuff though.

Natsu looked over to where Lucy had been sitting, finding her strangely absent. Another restroom break maybe? Or did she go outside?

The kitten stirred, grabbing Natsu's attention again and he petted him lightly, admiring how soft kitten fur was. Whatever was up with Lucy, perhaps she would tell him later after D&D since it seemed to be taking up so much of her concentration that evening.

With a refill of some of his snacks, Natsu returned to the table alongside everyone else after about ten minutes had passed. When Lucy returned to sit next to him with that sheepish look about her, he noticed that she came from the direction of the restroom, he had a good guess to what her problem was. He figured that it had to do with the fact that it was the second time she had been sitting in the restroom for ages.

"You okay, Lucy? Is your stomach that angry today?" he asked as she looked over the rules pertaining to druids and their shapeshifting.

She looked up him, raising an eyebrow. "What?"

"Your stomach? You keep going to the restroom."

Lucy double-blinked before shaking her head at him. "No, my stomach is fine," she said meekly and returned to reading. Natsu was once again feeling lost to what could be the problem.

' _Maybe she's just nervous about turning into a mouse.'_

He really wished his character could go with hers at this point. It sounded fun as hell to mess around as animals although he wondered if Happy would consider eating him if that was the case, but on her own in there? He couldn't shy away from the fact that he was definitely concerned. How was he supposed to protect her if she got caught?

"Everyone ready to continue?" Gray asked over the table.

Everyone either nodded a yes or answered affirmatively to his question.

"Yep, I'm ready to go in as a mouse," Lucy said confidently, as though her heart was absolutely set on the plan they had all decided on.

"Very well, I shall take 'mouse-Luna' and place her at an opening in the wall," Erza stated before Gray could get a word in. The Dungeon Master shrugged, rolled his secret dice and began to describe to Lucy what her character could see.

"Luna finds a route through the walls of the building, noting that she was probably not the first mouse to have crawled around in there before finding a crack to slip through inside and she realizes that she's can travel along a gap that leads into the main room."

"Can I see anyone?" Lucy asked, her gaze focused and alert, leaving Natsu ever more confused as to how her moods could be so all over the place tonight.

"Roll a perception check… as a mouse obviously," Gray said, sitting back and looking fairly chilled about what was going on. Natsu couldn't help but frown at him a little bit, just in case ice prick was planning on doing something mean to Lucy's character. He knew he shouldn't – Gray was just playing his own role in the game – but Luna didn't need to die in a stupid way or anything.

Lucy took a moment to check her new attributes as a mouse before rolling her dice. "15," she quickly stated with a small grin.

' _Maybe she'll be fine after all.'_

"Okay, in that case, you can hear voices nearby but you also spot a series of mouse traps which you will have to avoid if you want to get closer," Gray explained. Natsu wasn't even sure what would happen if Luna got caught in one – he knew she wouldn't instantly die from his general knowledge of the druid class, but nothing good could come of it either.

"What do you do?" Gray asked as Lucy pondered on his words.

"Hmm," she hummed. "I guess I'll do my best avoid the traps as I try to get further down the hallway."

"Roll a dexterity check for the first trap then."

Lucy took her dice, giving them a little shake in her hand before her lips contorted in thought as she halted in rolling. "Actually, I'm going to use one my lucky rolls for this."

"Yeah, okay," Gray responded, shrugging a little, Natsu unsure if he was annoyed about that or indifferent.

Lucy rolled her pink dice twice, scoring another 15 followed by a 17. She didn't even need the lucky dice that time, something that she quickly picked up on. "Heh, I guess it's just my natural luck that's on my side today!" she said.

"Yeah, you are able to jump over the first trap easily," Gray said. "But there's one more trap to pass which firmly sits between where you are and the open room."

"I'll roll for that one too then – I don't think I'll be needing a lucky dice this time!" she said confidently, Natsu instantly smiling at how optimistic she was being now.

"Go ahead," Gray said.

Lucy rolled again, smiling proudly before her face took on a look of horror with Wendy and Juvia letting out small gasps.

Natsu saw her roll. It was a frickin' '1'.

"What happens to her?" Natsu blurted out, turning to Gray, not realizing how worried he was now sounding.

Gray rolled his dice. "Well, uh, Luna tries to jump over the trap as she did with the last one…"

"It's bad, isn't it?" Lucy asked, her previous optimism replaced with doubt.

"She miscalculates her jump and gets caught in the trap, the snap of the bar comes crashing down on her and whereas it would normally kill a mouse – it reduces Lucy's 'mouse-health' to zero, forcing her to turn back into a human, the shock of it making her cry out loudly," Gray explained, his face turning red and Juvia looked to him in horror.

"Wait- that means I'm-" Lucy began to say,

"Gray! You made Lucy naked, again!" Juvia shrieked. "Why, why?!"

"Calm down, it's just the rules of the game!" He tried to explain with some impatience.

Lucy, however, just hung her head, "not again…" she muttered under her breath.

Natsu however, although he thought it was slightly funny, was seeing a more immediate concern that mattered way more than whether Luna was wearing any clothes or not. Her character yelled which meant that whatever was in there was bound to have heard her.

"Gray, I'm breaking down the door!" Natsu quickly said, standing up in his chair abruptly, causing it to scrape along the floorboards.

"Why?" Gray asked.

"Cause' Luna yelled! She's gonna be in danger – we have to get to her now!"

"Eh, roll a perception check to see if you heard her," Gray said, causing Natsu to scowl at him. He grabbed his dice whilst still standing and rolled, not even bothering to look down.

"Salamander rolled a 19," Gajeel commented. "Guess he's breakin' that door."

Natsu, satisfied with that, sat back down, looking to Lucy in hopes she might look a bit relieved that her friends were coming to her aid at least. He didn't expect her to still be hanging her head, catching sight of her blushing a little underneath her hair.

"Okay, all of you rush in as Salamander tells you all to get to Luna, right?" Gray asked.

"Of course – we protect our comrades," Erza answered.

"Alright alright, it doesn't take you very long to spot Luna as she is after all, erm, naked near the corner of the room. However, you can't help but notice that there is a robed figure also looking at you all from across the room near a broken altar and several overturned wooden church benches," Gray explained in detail, revealing more the map to them on the table.

"I will give Luna her clothes!" Juvia said fervently, looking to Lucy sternly but thinking of her modesty at least.

Gray nodded to her, Natsu catching Lucy whispering a small thank you across the table back to her.

"I'm putting myself between the weird guy and Luna," Natsu stated before anyone else could say anything, moving his character in place. Gray looked like he wanted to argue, but shook his head at the last minute, perhaps deciding that it wasn't worth it.

"The robed figure pulls down his hood, revealing an elderly man with white hair and a long white beard with an eye-patch covering his right eye-" Gray began to describe.

"Wait- Hades?" Gajeel asked, interrupting him which only made Gray smirk. "Shit, shoulda seen that one coming."

Natsu however, started to laugh, despite the situation their characters were in. "You put that old geezer in our game too?!"

"I did, yeah," Gray said cockily.

"Who's 'Hades' again?" Lucy asked.

"The teacher Natsu got into arguments with at our old school," Erza answered, unable to hide her own smile. "It's going to be fun fighting him so let's get on with the game."

Gray then cleared his throat, taking on a slightly darker tone of voice as he attempted to roleplay the voice of his former teacher. "Oh, there's still people left alive?"

"A-Are you the cleric of this temple?" Wendy asked, sounding a little nervous at first but relaxed as she began to roleplay with Gray.

"I was. However, now as you can see, everyone is dead."

"What happened?"

"They died of course… all for my Master," Gray said, giving them all a put on, but slightly sinister smirk.

"You did this?" Erza asked. "Why?"

"You're going down!" Natsu yelled a little too loudly across the store.

Gray was looking too cocky for Natsu's liking but he was confident that their party could take on whatever Gray was going to have this guy do.

"Roll initiative."

Titania was up first, approaching the boss with her katana in hand and striking hard. Metalicana followed up similarly with his swords. Wendy stuck with using cantrips, choosing to keep what spell shots she had left for healing.

Surprisingly, the boss took his turn next instead of the remaining players. Titania was struck first and the first thing Natsu noticed was that the damage she took was considerably higher than what had been coming from the monsters they had been fighting in the sessions prior to this one.

Lucy took her turn next but stated that she wasn't able to use her starry form as she had none left to use. She opted for using her whip and successfully hit the necromancer with it which was all down to her using one of her lucky rolls although it didn't do much in the way of hurting the enemy.

Natsu took his turn afterwards, firing things up with his Dragon's Breath to start with before deciding to go for a stronger spell on his next turn.

Juvia took her turn last and stuck to her cantrips as well, the need for spell slots among the group becoming very evident after all the zombie attacks.

Soon, two rounds had passed and Natsu was starting to wonder if goading Gray into giving him something tough to fight was worth it. He had used two of his stronger spells already yet it seemed that Hades had equally as powerful magic.

"That's the last of my lucky rolls," Lucy said regrettably.

"Juvia will help with her Water Wall spell!" Juvia said, before explaining the mechanics of it to Gray. It wasn't if he knew about every single spell in the game.

Erza shook her head, not looking happy about their situation. "My hit points are getting low."

"Mine too, that last spell really hurt," Lucy said dejectedly, shaking her head as she stared at her character sheet. Natsu however, wasn't sure how he could help the two of his comrades that were not looking good. He couldn't heal them, he couldn't reflect any spells aimed at Luna – what else could he do but keep on fighting?

"I can heal one of you," Wendy said, looking across the board at the positions of their miniatures. "Titania is closest and my strongest healing spell requires me to be within range of you… I can help you in the next round, Luna?"

Lucy shook her head at her. "No, it's okay, I can still heal myself!"

"Okay," Wendy replied, moving her character towards Erza. "I'll cast cure wounds using a second level spell slot on her!"

"Thank you," Erza replied, offering her a small smile.

The boss was going to take his turn next with Natsu hoping that he might target someone else like Metalicana this time, knowing he could take the hit and it would give Luna a chance to recover.

"The necromancer starts to recite yet another spell," Gray said as the group looked uneasy about what could come next. "He looks to Luna, noticing her looking to be worse off than the others and casts a spell of necrotic energy over her – Luna has to make a constitution saving throw."

"Can I jump in the way of the spell?" Natsu asked, looking a little panicked. It didn't stop Gray from rolling several dice behind in screen at once.

"No, you're nowhere near her, ash for brains," Gray dryly answered.

Lucy rolled her dice and luckily, it was high – a 16. There's no way her character could be affected by that spell now, Natsu thought.

"That's a save, right?" Lucy asked nervously.

"Yeah," Gray answered. "Luna only takes half of the damage which is…. 19 points of damage."

"19?!" Lucy yelled out in shock. "But that means… uh…"

' _Don't say it.'_

"Luna's dead?" Lucy said in a hushed tone, as though saying it physically hurt her. Natsu shook his head, grabbing her hand immediately.

"No! She's just down for the count right now!" he said frantically. He didn't really like the way her hand was trembling or the fact she quickly slipped it away from his shortly afterwards.

"Oh," Lucy uttered, bowing her head. It felt as if the realization that Luna could actually die completely disheartened her and Natsu felt that creeping worry that should that happen, Lucy might not return to their game with a new character afterwards. He was confident they would remain friends no matter what, but D&D wouldn't be the same without her there.

"You gotta do something, Wendy!" Natsu shouted across the table, startling the poor girl.

After the initial shock of Natsu's outburst wore off, Wendy nodded. "I have a spell that can help if I can reach her."

"But it's my turn now, isn't it?" Lucy asked, unsure in her voice.

"Yeah, you're going to have roll your first death saving throw," Gray said. "Need a reminder?"

Lucy nodded.

"You'll be rolling a D20; anything that's a 10 or higher means it's a save – you'll be doing this until you get three fails or saves… or unless someone can stabilize you."

"Okay," Lucy said quietly and hesitated in a moment in rolling her dice. Natsu inadvertently held his breath as he waited for her to do so.

' _Come on, come on, come on, don't roll bad…'_

Lucy shook her dice, squinting her eyes shut as she let it loose from her grasp and it rolled to the table. Natsu watched it, almost as if it were falling in slow motion, the white digits on pink changing rapidly until the dice settled.

' _ **1'**_

"Shit, bunny girl," Gajeel, the first to speak.

"Is it bad?" Lucy asked, yet to open her eyes.

"Yeah."

"It's a 1, Lucy," Erza said uncomfortably.

"So that's a fail, right?" Lucy said, opening her eyes and staring at the dice.

"It's worse than that," Wendy said. "It's a double fail. If you roll badly again… Luna will die."

Lucy gulped and closed her eyes again, hanging her head a little.

"I'll get to you as soon as I can!" Wendy said quickly.

Lucy nodded and Natsu felt the inexplicable urge to reach out to touch her and just tell her it would be alright. He didn't know that but… fuck, he didn't know what to tell her.

"I don't want Luna to die…" Lucy quietly said, catching his attention. "I shouldn't have wasted my lucky dice."

Natsu struggled to find something to say. "It's your turn, Natsu," Erza then reminded him, breaking his concentration from Lucy's quiet whispers. "Focus on fighting the necromancer and leave Wendy to do what she's best at."

Natsu grabbed his spell sheet, scanning for another spell to use. He badly wanted to use the Fireball spell and end this damn fight, but that would also hit Titania and Metalicana. He berated himself for being so dumb for not taking that sorcerer ability that could stop the spell from harming them. He settled on using Dragon's Breath which successfully hit the boss and did decent damage.

Juvia took her turn afterwards, unfortunately missing the boss with her own spell. The next round began and Natsu could only sit back and hope that nothing would happen to Wendy's character on her way to Luna.

Erza continued her onslaught yet the necromancer showed no signs of slowing down, according to Gray at least. Gajeel similarly followed up too, with a double attack which was temporarily boosted by his bardic abilities.

Natsu paid careful attention as Wendy's turn came up. Her character was far from Lucy's – at least 70 feet and she would have to make her way between the church benches to reach her.

"Can I jump the benches to reach her faster?" Wendy asked as she concluded the same thing.

"Yeah, I suppose you could but you would have to do an acrobatics check to pull it off," Gray replied.

"Okay, I'll try that!" Wendy said, determinedly. She rolled her dice and Natsu immediately grimaced. Wendy also rolled a '1'.

' _Why the hell are people rolling so many critical fails today?!'_

"Ah, I'm sorry!" Wendy immediately said, looking mortified as she looked to Lucy.

"It's okay," Lucy quietly replied reassuringly although Natsu could tell how worried she was.

"It happens," Gajeel said, patting the younger girl on the back.

"… Grandeeney clumsily fails to jump over the bench and crashes to the ground," Gray said, although he sounded a little guilty about it. "I'm afraid she's knocked prone for one round."

Wendy hung her head shamefully. Natsu felt bad for her, she just got unlucky after all. She might be able to reach her next time – Lucy just… needed to not roll badly.

' _Her character could die on this round…'_

The table was eerily quiet as Lucy's turn was approaching. Upon taking another look at her, Natsu could see that she was clearly bracing for the worst outcome. If he could have his character take her place, he would do it without a second's thought. He didn't mind making a new character – even if it couldn't be exactly the same as it was before, at least he could continue their adventure. Lucy's character didn't need to die like this, not after all the effort she put into creating a story for it.

"It's the necromancer's turn," Gray said, breaking the silence over the table and rolling his dice. "He looks to Salamander and everyone quickly sees the necromancer casting a beam of frost in his direction… Salamander takes 15 points of damage from the cold spell and his speed is reduced by 10 feet as he can feel frozen beam chill him to the bone."

Natsu rolled his eyes at the Dungeon Master.

' _As if that would stop me,'_ he thought before slightly reducing his character's hit points on his sheet. Of course, that meant it was now Lucy's turn.

Everyone looked to her, concerned and the edge of their seats as she picked up her dice somewhat slowly and prepared to roll again. Natsu was reminded of her quiet whispers of not wanting to die and watching her hand reluctant to roll. He needed her to have a bit of luck for a change as she was no doubt still beating herself up about using up all her lucky rolls.

He did the only thing that made sense at that moment.

He grabbed Lucy's trembling wrist as she shot him a look of surprise and confusion before he used his other hand to gently pull the dice from her fingers, placing it back on the table and replacing it with his own D20. He had rolled _mostly_ decently all night, so perhaps his dice would save her.

No-one stopped to ask what he was doing as Lucy took a moment to process what he was intending for her to do. She said nothing as she glimpsed at his dice in her hand before clenching it for a second and then rolling it.

Natsu watched it roll as she turned away, not wanting to see the result.

The dice stopped.

Natsu opened his mouth, yet no sound came out.

It was 14.

' _A save.'_

"Thank goodness!" Wendy quickly said as she breathed a sigh of relief. "It's a save, Lucy! You're good for another round!"

"That is a relief," Erza followed up with as she tucked some of her long red hair behind her ear. "Just stay strong for a while longer."

Lucy, now looking at Natsu's D20 on the table offered a faint smile. "Y-Yeah."

Natsu however, had no intention of seeing another round happen where Lucy would have to make another throw like that. This was going to end, now, on his turn. Gray hadn't indicated much on if the necromancer was getting any weaker but he was pretty sure with the amount of damage everyone had dished out so far that one good attack would take him out.

"I'm gonna cast 'Scorching Ray' on him," Natsu declared, pointing to the miniature of the necromancer. "And I'm gonna use my third level spell slot to do it and empower it using my sorcerer powers." It wasn't the fireball spell but at least he wouldn't be hurting his friends with this spell.

"Roll for each of the rays then," Gray said.

Natsu grabbed his D20 from the table and rolled in rapid succession. It was supposed to be four rays in total but he rolled poorly once so that became three rays of fire, all hitting the boss. Now he just needed to roll his damage and combine that with all the extra fire damage he had from being a Draconic sorcerer.

He was pleased with the outcome of the first ray – 12 damage. The second one was similar at 11. He paused to look at Gray once more, looking any indication that this boss was going down on this turn. Gray, however, was hard to read as usual.

He rolled his final roll, smiling widely when he saw a 14.

Altogether, that was… a lot of damage. That had to end this – it just had to.

Gray was silent at first as he looked over his notes. Everything felt tense but Natsu knew that even if he hadn't done enough, everyone else that preceded Lucy's turn would end this encounter with their attacks.

"The necromancer is burned horrendously by all the fiery rays hitting him," Gray began to describe although he was sounding a bit relieved for a change. Natsu however, was already satisfied upon hearing this. Gray only talked like this when an encounter was ending. "He lets out a loud cry of anguish before falling backwards to the ground, burnt and dead."

"Nice job, Salamander," Gajeel said, sincerely for once, sitting back in his chair as he visibly relaxed.

"It's over?" Lucy asked. "What happens to Luna?"

"Oh, I'm going to run right up to her and cast 'Spare the Dying'!" Wendy quickly announced, moving her character.

"Does that make her… okay?" Lucy then asked, unsure of what to do.

"Yes! She won't have to roll any more death saving throws!"

Natsu on the other hand, was relieved beyond words. Even more so than anyone at the table perhaps although probably not Lucy. He looked to her once again, seeing that she was no longer looking as worried although he found that she had also been looking to him again, quickly turning away when he caught her. Lucy was still being really weird but that was okay, she was still in the game and that's what mattered.

It was then he heard her whisper a thank you in his direction although he wasn't sure what for.

"No problem!" Natsu replied before going back to paying attention to the game.

After their encounter with very little in the way of answers of what had actually happened to the town, everyone was quick to find out that the zombies and skeletons that had been roaming about had all dropped dead… again, what with the necromancer gone.

Grandeeney wanted to build a funeral pyre for all of the victims, requesting that Salamander use his Dragon's Breath to light it as it would be a fitting way to send them off in the service of her dragon god. It was his last spell slot of that level but that was okay, the town was empty of undead now and perhaps they might even find some survivors.

Wendy's character officially joined the group after that, stating that with her home town gone, she wanted to find out who the necromancer's 'master' was so she can stop something like this from ever happening again.

Natsu wasn't sure if the 'master' was the dragon they were supposed to be hunting or not, or if Gray was introducing another enemy.

Either way, he was all for it.

* * *

As the D&D session came to an end, Natsu had to admit that it had been a lot of fun for a change when he really thought about it. He had been hoping Gray would actually throw a strong opponent at them to fight sooner or later and although it wasn't a dragon, the creepy undead-making dude was a good challenge. Looking at each of the group members, he was glad they made it through and having Wendy with them now made a massive difference with her healing. He cast his eyes over at Lucy briefly as she packed up her things and watched her take a longer look at her miniature before she also packed it away.

Luna had come so close to dying.

Natsu knew that's how D&D usually goes – somebody's character dies sooner or later. Honestly, he didn't want anyone's character to die, even if they could just make a new one – he wanted them all to see Gray's campaign through to the end.

' _Especially Lucy as it's her first one…'_

But they pulled through and that's what counted at the end of the day. If he was going to take anything from this, it was that his character needed to get stronger. That necromancer was just a guy with a lot of spells – he was going to fight a fully-grown dragon.

"Thank you very much, Gray, for the great game!" Wendy said, sitting forward with a broad smile. "I look forward to playing with everyone again next week!"

"I have a question for you, Wendy," Erza replied, turning to the teenager. "What will you do if and when Lamia Scale start up again?"

"Oh, I…" Wendy replied, looking unsure for a moment. "I would like to play with both groups if possible if I have the time."

Natsu didn't both packing away his own belongings just yet – the sleeping kitten was awaiting him on the counter still, wrapped in his scarf. He felt excitement as he approached him, silently promising to take care of him all over again. He knew he could definitely do it.

"Is Happy okay?" Natsu asked Lisanna as she removed cash from the register and was bagging it up to lock into the store's safe.

"A pet is a big responsibility, you know that right?" Lisanna reminded him, her eyes steeled as she spoke in all seriousness. She really didn't need to tell him obvious stuff like that though.

"I know, I can handle it… and Happy's no pet! He's gonna be more than that"

As Lisanna began to drone on about all the needs of a young kitten, especially the bit about Happy being too young to have left his mom so he would need extra care, Natsu gently prodded the stray to rouse it. Happy slowly opened his eyes, still blue and had the look of wariness about him.

"Let's go home, Happy," Natsu said, cupping the kitten again and lifting it off the counter. He was so small that he could easily sit on a single palm of his hand. Using that to his advantage, Natsu went about grabbing his scarf with his other hand and haphazardly wrapped it around his neck.

"-anyway, I'll give you the milk I bought but you'll have to buy some more," Lisanna continued, holding out the bottle from earlier to him.

"Thanks, Lisanna, Happy will be really happy about that," Natsu replied, grinning at the kitten in his hand. He already had a few ideas about what he could do with his new pet – take him for walks, see if he liked fish as much as tressym Happy did and maybe he would want to join him and Lucy when they watched movies with a blanket.

That thought reminded him that he had better ask her about keeping Happy at hers already.

"Lucy!" he said loudly, spinning around with the kitten and startling the blonde, her cheeks back to being pink again. He really hoped she wasn't getting sick.

"Y-Yeah, Natsu?" Lucy replied, turning quickly away from him so she could hastily put the strap of her bag over her shoulder.

' _She must be in a hurry to get home already.'_

"Ready to go?" he asked, approaching her with the kitten, forgetting to ask her what he was originally going to. He found that despite Happy's unfortunate circumstances, he couldn't stop smiling as he kept peering down at him.

"Aren't you going to collect your miniatures?" Lucy asked curiously, looking over to the table. Natsu realized he had forgotten about that.

"Hmm, hold Happy a minute," Natsu said, quickly thrusting the kitten into Lucy's hands as she jumped at the sudden gesture, his hands brushing against hers. Lucy held Happy fine regardless, although he looked confused now at the sudden change. It only took Natsu a minute to grab his bag and put his miniatures and his character sheet away.

"Let's get going then," Natsu said afterwards, quickly taking Happy back into his hands as even though he knew could trust Lucy with the tiny cat, he wanted to keep his promise to Happy and do a good job at looking after him himself.

"Uh, wait-" Lucy replied awkwardly, hesitant to move from the spot. "Maybe we should, um, go home separately this week?" she suggested quietly, that pink in her cheeks coming back and her eyes looking over to Erza who was happily talking to Wendy about something or another.

' _Why the hell did she think they needed to do that? Was it because of Happy?'_

Natsu couldn't understand her logic of suddenly wanting a ride after walking home together previously and it wasn't like he was about to accept getting into Erza's car himself either.

"Nah, let's go home and get something to eat," he simply replied in disagreement with her suggestion, grabbing her wrist with his free hand and dragging her towards the front door of the store.

"W-Wait!" Lucy said again, louder this time and catching the attention of everyone at the table.

"Oh, are you two leaving?" Erza asked. "I'll stop by in a few days, Natsu, to make sure you're taking proper care of that cat."

Natsu felt irked once again – did no one believe he could do anything on his own around here? Taking care of a kitten couldn't even be that hard. He knew Erza meant well and all that, but he didn't need to be babysat.

"Happy's gonna stay at Lucy's so he'll be fine!" Natsu loudly stated back to her, causing Lucy to whirl around towards him and tugged her wrist violently from his grasp.

"What?! No, he's not! You didn't even ask me first!"

' _Oh yeah, I forgot.'_

Natsu's hand twitched for a moment, not really liking the way she yanked away from his grasp suddenly like that. He was so sure she would say yes that he never considered the possibility of her saying no. He hoped she was just annoyed because he forgot to ask her.

"Can he stay at yours then?" Natsu quickly asked, hoping that would settle her somewhat.

"No! I'm not allowed to have pets in my apartment!" Lucy fired back.

Natsu shrugged. "I'm not supposed to have them either." It wasn't like the landlord at his place was going to take notice of Happy anyway. "But Happy will really like your place, Lucy!"

"Oh really? And I suppose you want your own set of keys too?" Lucy said with some bite to her voice. Natsu thought little of that however, and instead, his face lit up at the idea.

"Yeah, that'd be great!" he replied sincerely.

"I wasn't being serious!" Lucy near yelled, Natsu flinching a little at how angry she seemed all of a sudden.

It was at this point that Juvia turned to them from helping Gray tidy up, clearly looking annoyed. "Juvia thinks you two should take your lover's quarrel somewhere else, you're being really loud."

Natsu nodded in agreement with her. Lucy was being really loud, he was hungry and Happy was hungry. Her not being serious about giving him a set of keys wasn't that funny in his opinion but she should consider it – that way he could hang out at hers on the days where she came home later than normal.

For whatever reason though, what Juvia said really seemed to do the job at making Lucy go quiet. Lucy's fists were curled like she was annoyed but her face had gone from pink to red.

'… _Is she embarrassed 'bout something?'_

"Uh, Lucy?" Gajeel said, speaking up and grabbing his motorcycle helmet, a small reminder that the guy could actually use transport which had Natsu seriously getting pissed off occasionally that Metal Head still wasn't telling him how the hell he got over his motion sickness already.

"...what?" Lucy said, her voice lower this time but she was clearly still annoyed.

"So… about Levy…" Gajeel said, slowly and awkwardly. "Does she… is she…"

Natsu watched as Gajeel struggled to find the words, looking more and more agitated by the second. Seriously, if he cared about Levy so much, why didn't he get on that damn bike of his and just go find her already? He should just ask Lucy for her number again and they can meet up and do… couple stuff or something. Natsu didn't really know what they did when they were together but it was probably something dumb knowing Gajeel.

"Levy says she'll see you on Halloween," Lucy answered calmly this time, her moodiness suddenly gone.

Then it clicked for him – Lucy must be 'hangry'. It's the only thing that made sense at that point and all the more reason why they should just go get some food already. His fingers found Happy again, the feline still cuddled up against scarf and half-dozing off.

"… That's not it, uh," Gajeel struggled further. "Is Levy seeing any- … never mind. Forget it!" The welder was quick to leave, pushing past the both of them in large strides although he didn't slam the door behind him for a change.

"Go home already," Erza suggested quickly afterwards, looking at him and Lucy. "We don't need for you both to start arguing again."

"Yeah, we're goin'" Natsu answered, grabbing Lucy's wrist again, happy that she wasn't fighting him this time as he tugged at her to follow him.

Her voice was quiet as she spoke up. "Natsu, can you not-"

"Remember to stop by my sister's stall at the Harvest Festival!" Lisanna called as they left the building.

Once they were outside, Natsu released Lucy's wrist and looked down to check on Happy to see if he was okay in the cold air and finding the kitten was happy with where he was.

"Right, let's go!" Natsu declared to both Happy and Lucy as he began to walk their usual route. Lucy followed behind, a little reluctant to walk beside him for a change – reminding him she was still probably hangry. "You wanna grab some burgers, Lucy?"

"B-Burgers?" she stuttered as if she had never heard of them before. Natsu looked at her oddly, thinking that her mind must be all over the place.

"Yeah, burgers? Ya know, with buns and meat and cheese and-"

"I know what burgers are, Natsu!"

"So, do you want to grab some? We could eat 'em at yours? Or if you don't want to make a mess, we could maybe eat them by the canal or something?" Natsu tried suggesting, hoping that she might cheer up at the thought. It was a little annoying that she was being so weird around him, even for her.

"Uh- I-I, don't know-" she continued to stammer.

Natsu was feeling a little unsure of what to say now. He was starting to get the impression she didn't want him around with how reluctant she was being to do well, anything that involved him.

' _Did I do something bad?'_

"Hey," he said, a little more calmly and stopping to turn to her, she nearly bumping into him as she had been following behind, still looking beet red in the face. He wanted some answers. "What's up with you? You're not normally like this with me… wait, was it Gray? Did he piss you off?"

She harshly looked away from him again. "N-No, I-I… have just had a lot to think about lately."

"Is that all?" Natsu asked, getting the feeling there was more to it. He figured it could be anything but would help if he could – unless it was uh, girl related or something.

"Yeah… that's all," she answered leaving him satisfied that that was all that was up.

"Burgers then?" he asked, stroking Happy across his tiny head some more.

Lucy didn't answer straight away, leaving Natsu hoping that she really wasn't overthinking about whatever it was she was thinking about. Thankfully, he was relieved at what she said next. "Yeah, sure thing, Natsu."

With Happy cupped against his scarf with one of his hands, he was tempted to grab hers with his other so they could hurry up and get something faster. He decided against it though – Lucy needed a little space probably to do all that thinking she was doing. Perhaps leaving her to figure out whatever it was that was bothering during the walk to the burger joint would be best. He could walk a little slower for that.

She didn't say anything for a few minutes of walking, even after she moved to walk by his side again. The canal soon came into view and Natsu felt the need to hold Happy a little tighter, not wanting the little guy to suddenly startle and leap from his hand into the murky water.

"Wanna talk about the harvest festival?" Natsu suggested as he recalled the food and games that were usually there.

"Oh?" Lucy said, looking as if she broke from her thoughts at the sudden conversation he was trying to start.

"Yeah, we're still goin', right?" Natsu reminded her. She didn't answer right away, her face was written in conflict. He wasn't sure what to make of that.

"Oh… right, yeah, we're still going," Lucy eventually said, looking almost sad about it. Natsu could only hope that the burgers they were gonna grab would help in whatever was bothering her so much.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for being patient in waiting for this chapter! I really enjoyed the time off from writing this fic.
> 
> The harvest festival is up next – it's also going to come in parts as it will take a few chapters to cover it all as a lot of things are happening. It's also gonna take at least five chapters until we get back to D&D too so uh, I hope you like the non-D&D stuff going on in this plot.
> 
> Also, my Xmas fic 'The Workhouse Family' is available to read now if anyone is interested in giving it a go although it's very, very different from this fic. I've learned a few things since posting it and that's that my attempts at writing romance (albeit different from how I planned to write it here) are lacking and it has me nervous about pushing the slowburn in this plot forwards. I don't want to disappoint anyone after you've all read so much of this, only for me to offer a poor conclusion to the slowburn so I'm having a serious think about what to do here. I could practice practice practice until I can create something that is more in line with how others having written their Nalu romances, but honestly, I want to write the romance plot of how I think it should go and if that feels lackluster or culturally different from what people expect, I shouldn't care. However, I do care, and a part of me is thinking to focus more on the D&D in the plot instead of the ships and even though people might be disappointed, perhaps that's better than being more disappointed later in the romance part of the story that I had originally planned.
> 
> I don't know. For now at least, it'll be a while until Natsu figures some stuff out in this story so maybe I'll just continue as planned and think on what to do in the meantime.
> 
> Sorry for the rambles, I figured I should just let you all know in advance what's going through my head at the moment.
> 
> I also said I would try to get two chapters of this story out this December – that probably won't happen. I'm originally from the UK and although I don't live there any more, I have plenty of friends and family that live there that are currently going through a lockdown Christmas and our plan is to spend a lot of time playing games online through to New Years as they can't celebrate like they normally would. 
> 
> Next chapter: Magnolia's harvest festival!
> 
> D&D Terms:  
> Death Saving Throws: If you run out of hit points, your character falls unconscious and must roll either 3 saves or 3 fails to determine whether they die or not, unless someone can stabilize them before then  
> Knocked Prone: In this instance, Wendy would have to use half of her movement to just get back up after falling down


	25. The Harvest Festival - Part I

**T** **hursday,** **October** **15th**

Lucy was feeling confident on the day she awoke of the harvest festival that she had finally conquered the unfiltered feelings that had made themselves plainly evident during Fairy Tail's last D&D session. She felt as if she could easily push them out of her mind now and she was no longer idly thinking about Natsu and the implausible romance scenarios that came with it that played with her heart just a little too cruelly for her liking.

As she brushed her teeth, she mused on how Natsu finding that kitten on Saturday was a secret blessing in disguise. His new companion had completely absorbed his attention and she hadn't seen him in days, not that it had stopped him from sending a string of photos of Happy via his cellphone.

She had guessed he was a probably cat person when he mentioned how much he wanted one all those weeks back, but she hadn't expected for him just to adopt an unweaned kitten without much thought or how just how feasible it was going to be for him to raise it in the long run. Natsu was nothing but persistent though, the chain of photos he had sent proved that. Several of them were of Happy drinking his milk, sleeping on Natsu's bed and there were also a few finger wrestling videos too.

In all honesty, Lucy was actually a little surprised, not that she doubted Natsu, but he was always quite rough and he had no issue in just grabbing her wrist to drag her somewhere without thinking. The video clips and photos of Happy demonstrated that Natsu had, well, a gentler side to him that she didn't think he had in the slightest. She knew that he could be delicate if he was able to sit down and paint miniatures, but taking care of a helpless creature so lovingly… it really had her wondering how many layers to his personality he had.

Lucy was glad that Natsu hadn't turned up at her place every day with the kitten – even after he had seemingly just decided that Happy could stay with her. She got it – he liked hanging out at her place, although she had no idea what he found so interesting about it. His place actually had all of his miniatures and video games. She had, well, books.

As Lucy went about selecting an outfit for the day, she thought on her plans for today's outing. First, she would meet Cana who had decided that today was going to be the day that she would 'meet' her dad. Lucy had already made arrangements to meet Natsu a little later so she could be there as Cana's emotional support.

The only thing that Lucy hadn't really done in her preparations for the day was telling Levy about her newfound feelings for her fellow D&D player. After Natsu insisted on hanging out with her on Saturday night where she thought she might die of embarrassment from her unfettered thoughts, especially after they found themselves eating burgers by the canal and she couldn't stop imagining the whole scenario as some impromptu date, she simply didn't have the time. The relief she felt when Natsu resigned into going to his own home with Happy afterwards was immense as she really needed the space to get a hold of herself.

So she decided on what was the best course of action – that this was just a passing crush that stemmed from her lack of going on _real_ dates with men that _actually_ wanted to romance her. Therefore, she just needed a few days to get over it and then she could pass it off as some silly point in her life where she thought she had a thing for Natsu. Levy didn't need to be notified of her fickle thoughts that would soon pass.

Lucy grabbed her keys after checking her appearance one last time before heading out. She was wholeheartedly convinced that once she saw Natsu later, those feelings would be gone and they could just hang out like the good friends that they had become.

She made her way to the heart of Magnolia, 'Kardia Cathedral', where the majority of events and stalls would be. It was quite the long walk but it would make up for her skipping out on her usual jog that morning. She wasn't religious, but the cathedral was so pretty to look at with it being in the center of the old town district. It felt as if she were stepping several hundred years into the past with the old half-timbered buildings and their pitched gabled roofs that lined the surrounding streets. The cobblestone roads were a nice touch too although difficult to walk on. The roads had also been blocked off from traffic, making it truly suitable for festival-goers.

Lucy sent a quick message to Cana on her phone, asking where she was as she approached the colorful stalls that bordered the edges of the streets, the large crowds making it hard to spot anyone that she might recognize. Cana was quick to reply, stating she was over by a beer tent not far from the cathedral. Lucy had to squeeze through the crowds to find it but she eventually spotted Cana inside who was in the process of chugging cups of craft beers alongside Bacchus at a raised table.

"Cana!" Lucy called, waving at her.

"Yo! Lucy!" Cana called back, raising a cup and splashing beer around her. "Wanna join us?"

Bacchus also greeted her as Lucy approached their table, shaking her head. "I thought you wanted to you… know, meet someone today." She had no idea whether Cana had said anything to Bacchus about her intentions of introducing herself to her dad.

"Oh, yeah, that…" Cana said, a little apprehensively. She put down her cup and stepped away from the bar stall before turning to her friend. "Yeah, I gotta do a thing… catch you later, Bacchus?"

"Sure!" he answered before chugging down the remainder of his drink. Lucy left the tent with Cana following behind, not missing the fact that her friend was clearly nervous but that was to be expected.

"Do you know where to find him?" Lucy loudly asked as they began weaving their way through the crowds.

"Yeah, follow me," Cana answered, taking the lead. They turned into a quieter street, devoid of stalls which made it easier to hear one another. Although, as they walked, Cana was oddly silent, leaving Lucy to wonder if she should say something. Cana was clearly unsure about this and Lucy wasn't sure if she should step in to reassure her that she didn't have to do this today if she wasn't feeling ready to. After all, she had no idea what Cana's father was like or if he would even believe or accept her as one of his own. Lucy didn't want to butt in… but Cana didn't seem confident in the slightest about what she was doing.

Luckily, a distraction came in the form of a familiar, athletically-built redhead at the end of the street who was gazing into a shop window with particular interest. Lucy smiled upon seeing her, recognizing her as Erza and thinking that perhaps she could help. Erza quickly caught sight of the two of them approaching and waved them over.

"Hey, Erza!" Lucy said, finally catching sight of what had caught her interest. It appeared to be a store front that looked relatively new although it was currently closed for the festival. Inside the front window, Lucy spotted several mannequins wearing outfits of a unique design. Despite working for a fashion magazine, she couldn't say she recognized the brand of clothing at all.

"Hey you two, enjoying the festival?" Erza asked, looking to them briefly before also looking back to the garments on the other side of the window.

"What's this? Is this place new?" Cana asked, pressing her face up against the glass of the window to get a closer look.

Erza nodded. "Yes, I think it opened earlier this week. The designs caught my interest."

Lucy looked up to the sign above the storefront – the store itself being small and in the old town district meant that it had an old and charming appearance to it. 'Celestial Clothing' it read in bold, medieval lettering. It was a nice name, Lucy had to admit.

"I think I will have a browse next week," Erza said, "although I am not one hundred percent sure it's my style."

"It's definitely Lucy's though!" Cana quickly remarked with a grin.

Lucy wasn't going to deny that. The clothing that she could see on the mannequins was not exactly unappealing to her – some of it was skimpy, which she certainly felt drawn to. She liked to show off what she had when she was feeling confident… not that it seemed to have any effect on her current crush but she wasn't even going to think about that right now. She could see that there were a lot of dresses and skirts too – she wasn't opposed to wearing pants or anything but she certainly had a preference on what she chose to wear.

Cana spotted a top that appealed to her and began talking about it, leading Erza into a conversation about various articles of clothing but Lucy, distracted, couldn't shake the feeling that something was off in the quiet street they were standing in.

She looked around, spotting nothing, hearing nothing other than the conversation her two friends currently were having, yet she felt… observed.

It was a weird sensation for her to even begin to describe – she just felt as though someone had eyes on her from a distance and after a quick look around for security cameras, she ruled out any technology being involved.

' _If only I could roll perception checks in real life.'_

"Does anyone else feel like we're being watched?" Lucy asked out loud, catching both of her friend's attention.

"No," Erza swiftly responded whilst also peering around. "I don't see anyone else here."

"Me neither," Cana added. "You've always had a wild imagination, Lucy."

Lucy nodded. Perhaps it was just her mind playing tricks on her. "Yeah… maybe."

"So, where are you two headed?" Erza then asked them.

Cana offered a quick response. "Bob's Bar."

"Oh? Are you planning to drink?" Erza asked although Lucy felt as if she were being judged a little for it.

"We're just going to meet someone, Erza," Lucy replied before putting her hand around Cana's arm. "We should probably get going." She was hoping that Erza might volunteer to tag along and Cana might open up about what she was planning to do.

"Yeah, we should…" Cana said, speaking more quietly as though she were having second thoughts.

"Well, have fun and I might see you later," Erza said as she gave the store one last look before walking off.

Lucy was a little disappointed that Erza didn't offer to join them. Never the less, she was going to help Cana the best she could on her own. After a little hesitation, Cana began leading the way again, weaving through another street before she spotted a fancy-looking bar with pink and black seating just outside of its premises, although it was currently packed.

"He's supposed to be there today, I overheard him say so," Cana said as the two of them approached the bar.

"What do you mean, 'you overheard him'?" Lucy inquired.

"I, uh, had a few drinks some nights ago and thought, 'fuck it, I'm just gonna go meet him'," Cana began to explain as Lucy looked at her in shock, "so I went to my old school and saw him on his phone by his car and he was saying he was gonna be at 'Bob's' for the festival."

Ignoring the fact that Cana didn't ask for her assistance, Lucy wanted to know what was running through Cana's mind at the time. "But you didn't say anything to him then?"

"I chickened out."

"I would have come with you."

"I thought it would be easier on my own."

Lucy's heart dropped a little, unable to stop herself from feeling suddenly very unwanted. Perhaps in wanting to be there for Cana, she might be overstepping a little? She wasn't sure – Cana seemed to want her around now although she had an inclination that she also didn't want to be in this situation at all.

They made their way over to the outdoor seating with Cana approaching the open, propped door of the building and peeking in. "He's here."

Lucy quickly peered inside too as Cana not so subtlety pointed towards the bar where she spotted a well-built man occupying one of the bar stools, laughing jovially with the bartender. Although she could only see him from behind, she couldn't say she saw much resemblance between him and Cana – aside from the drinking.

"That's really him?" Lucy quietly asked to which Cana nodded affirmatively.

"Yeah," she muttered, "… I'm not sure how to do this."

Lucy brought her forefinger and thumb to her chin in thought as she pondered on what advice she would want to receive if she were in the same situation. "Perhaps… just introduce yourself and see if your name sounds familiar to him?"

"Why would it? I don't think my mom ever told him," Cana rebuked, shaking her head. "What if he thinks I'm lying?"

"… You won't know unless you try."

Cana stayed quiet for a moment as she appeared to weigh her choices. Lucy didn't mind – she was more than happy to just support Cana until she made her decision. In the meantime, a few eager visitors to the bar pushed their way past them both, making Lucy question whether standing at the door was really such a good idea. She gestured for Cana to shuffle inside and they found themselves standing close to a corner, not far from the door, still in view of Cana's supposed father.

"I should just say something?" Cana suddenly asked although it came across as though she were asking herself more than Lucy.

"I think that's what I would do – it will be awkward at first but perhaps afterwards, you might really get along!" Lucy tried responding positively and placing her hand on Cana's shoulder reassuringly.

"Perhaps…" Cana muttered back. "Fine, I'll-"

It was at the precise moment, on the cusp of Cana's decision, that her father suddenly found the attention of young lady, dressed to party, taking a seat very closely next to him and he was quick to respond to her bold advance. Lucy caught sight of his face, worn, but not unattractive in the slightest, grinning wildly at his new drinking partner with a lustful gaze.

Lucy turned to Cana, unsure of what her plan was now. Neither of them had anticipated that happening. Not only that, but as Cana went still, Lucy felt uneasy once more.

With her hand still on her friend's shoulder, Lucy still couldn't shake the feeling she was being watched. She looked around again, seeing enamored couples as well as a few groups of loud men pass by the entrance outside or enter the premises, but nothing to indicate that she was being targeted by anyone. She wasn't even sure if it was just her imagination, but she felt as if there were eyes upon her ever since the clothing store.

Lucy looked back to the man that Cana was watching carefully, he now fully enjoying the attention of his female companion with his hand running up her exposed thigh.

"… No, I don't want to say anything to him today," Cana was quick to declare. "I-I'm not ready."

"Another time, then?" Lucy asked as Cana nodded slowly as if she were finalizing her choice, followed by making a swift exit of Bob's Bar entirely. Lucy followed dutifully, unsure of where Cana was heading.

Lucy also knew she would have to meet up with Natsu soon before he got impatient and started blowing up her phone with messages. His last message told her to meet him by the BBQ stall which was vague in terms of where that would be exactly but Lucy reasoned that there can't be _that_ many BBQ stalls around. She felt her heart beat a little faster at the thought of seeing him before quickly reigning it in, convincing herself that she has this very silly nonsensical crush of hers under control and she really needed to focus on meeting someone who, at the very least, found her attractive.

With her heart playing silly games with her and Cana seeming unsure of what to do now, Lucy made a swift decision.

"Do you want to hang out with Natsu and I today, Cana?" she asked quickly. She knew that Natsu wanted to just hang out with just her for whatever reason, but maybe Cana needed the company right now. Not only that, but perhaps having Cana there might also help keep her renegade feelings in check.

"...Nah, I think I'm gonna go enter the beer-drinking contest with Bacchus," Cana replied. "I could win a keg if I score first place."

"Oh." Lucy couldn't help but feel a little dejected.

"I wouldn't want to be the third wheel anyway," Cana said with little humor.

Lucy frowned but felt equally as shy at the thought.

' _No way can I tell her about how I've been feeling.'_

"We're just-" Lucy began to say.

"-friends, yeah. You've said."

Lucy held her tongue, unsure of what she could say to dissuade Cana from her playful taunting before ultimately deciding to ignore it. She shrugged it off and soon, they parted ways as they passed the same beer tent that Lucy had originally found her in, Cana more than eager to get inside and sign herself up to chug copious amounts of ale.

Lucy couldn't blame Cana for backing out and how the situation unfurled. It would have been too awkward for her to approach her 'dad' while he had a young lady practically sitting on his lap and singing his praises. The thought of something happening with her own father made Lucy shiver at the uncomfortable picture of it in her mind.

She continued to push her way through the crowds until the scent of barbecue sauce hit her nose and she knew she was on the right track to finding the stall. She passed several other stalls that caught her interest along the way – artisan soaps, aromatic perfumes along with several fresh fruit and vegetable market stalls too. Lucy made a mental note to route back to them – even if she knew that she didn't have all the money in the world to spare, a little treat once in a while couldn't hurt.

Finally, she caught sight of wild, unbrushed pink hair near a stall at the end of the street and hurried her pacing to meet Natsu even faster. She didn't know why she did, it wasn't like they were on a timer or anything.

Once again, she felt her heart beat a little faster once she had a full view of him in his usual getup of a black t-shirt and cargo pants along with that unique scarf around his neck. She ignored the passing fantasy that popped into mind that she could just embrace him as though they were something more than just friends, settling on just wanting to have fun today instead like they always did.

He quickly spotted her as he turned, holding a Shish kebab in hand and smiling at seeing her, leaving Lucy feeling like her insides were fluttering manically.

' _It's not like he hasn't smiled at you like that before. Get a grip, Lucy!'_

"Yo!" he yelled out as she approached him, trying to ignore the fact she was probably blushing although he was probably at the stage where he thought that was a permanent thing she did now.

"Hey, Natsu!" Lucy greeted cheerfully, as if she wasn't immediately thinking about wanting to hold his hand or have some kind of physical contact with him. She mentally cursed herself as she was _certain_ she had her feelings under control up until this point.

"How did it go with your friend?" Natsu bit into his kebab as he waited for Lucy to answer and she was genuinely unsure if he was interested in hearing about what happened or not.

"Oh, erm, she tried but backed out at the last second," Lucy replied. She knew that she had her own fair share of familial issues but she wasn't sure what she would do if she were in Cana's position right now. "How's Happy doing?"

Natsu's face lit up at her question, "He's doin' great! He's still kinda wobbly on his paws but he's gettin' there! It won't be long 'til he wants to try some real food soon too I bet!"

Lucy grinned back, pleased to see him so happy just talking about his new pet.

"You want any food?" Natsu asked as he took another bite of his kebab, not caring if his mouth was partially full as he spoke. "They've got some brisket ready soon if you want some!"

She shook her head. "No, I wanted to look at some of the other stalls before eating," Lucy explained as she looked back over her shoulder at the stalls she passed on the way there. Apparently, Natsu's lack of table manners was not enough to dampen her 'itsy bitsy' little crush on him as she felt her stomach continue to flutter. Shopping would take her mind off of it, she was sure.

Natsu looked partially surprised at her mention of shopping. "Oh yeah, Mira's stall is over there!" he exclaimed loudly, still chewing away and pointed across the street to a modest stall that was attracting a lot of attention – male attention. "She's sellin' her pastries and bread."

Lucy nodded at him. "I'd better go say hi!" That was a good excuse to get her head together for a moment. So what if she hadn't seen or heard from him in person since D&D – that was no reason for her to suddenly start forgetting that she most _definitely_ had a handle on the rampant feelings that merely stemmed from a lack of dating.

She made her way over to Mira's stall, giving Mira a little wave as she approached, as the woman in question went about selling the Strauss's confections to eager customers. Once most of them had bought and paid for several bags of buns, donuts and fresh loaves of sweet bread, Mira finally greeted her.

"Good afternoon, Lucy!" Mira greeted her. "Sorry to keep you waiting like this – I didn't think the stall would be so popular!"

Lucy shook her head. "No need to apologize, I was just dropping by to say hello!"

"Is Natsu still by the barbecue stall?"

"Yeah, he wants something from there that isn't done yet," Lucy replied, avoiding looking over her shoulder at him.

"He's been hanging around there for a while – he must have been eager to meet up with you," Mira cooed with that teasing tone to her voice.

Lucy let out a scoff. "I doubt that, he just wants the food." She knew she sounded a tad bitter – she hadn't meant to come across that way. Why her foolish heart had decided to start crushing on someone she considered a friend who was clearly not into her – if anyone at all, was still a complete mystery.

"I suppose that could be possible too," Mira replied, a little mournfully. "… It's a shame he never liked Lisanna back – I think she would have been quite happy if he did."

Lucy felt the fluttering sensations she was trying to keep under control, feel drastically different for a second – as if everything inside of her lurched alongside a dull ache that partially felt as if it stung too. She had 'crushed' on guys before – unobtainable, attractive guys in magazines and in the TV shows that she watched with Levy, where she could say that she found them cute or a nice catch – never anything serious. She never felt annoyed when she later found out that those said guys were already in relationships.

Having a 'thing' for someone in her everyday life felt so very, very, different. Knowing that Lisanna liked Natsu was one thing and as something that didn't bother her before, was now setting off some sort of alarm bell within her that made her feel… guilty perhaps. She didn't want to admit there was a possibility that it could be jealously because then that would make everything even more ridiculous.

She couldn't be jealous that someone else liked her crush – said crush having no interest in women in general as far as she could tell and perhaps even, was only attracted to mythological dragons. The whole situation was silly and Lucy really wanted to snap out of whatever she was feeling.

Her curiosity was still there though and even though Lisanna confessed that for a while that she did like Natsu in _that_ way, she had accepted long ago that he wasn't going to like her back which left Lucy wondering whether maybe Mira knew more than what she was letting on.

"Natsu doesn't really seem like he's romantically interested in anything," Lucy replied, looking over her shoulder for the briefest of seconds to see Natsu accept a small box of cooked meat, looking overly excited for it. "As I said, he mostly thinks about food."

Mirajane shrugged although Lucy had the feeling that she might have wanted to say more. She leaned down for a moment under the stall's table before bringing out a small wicker basket and holding it out to her. "Here! I notice you don't have one!"

Lucy curiously took the basket, peering inside to see that it was empty and offered a Mira a befuddled look. "Okay?"

"It's an old tradition to bring one to this festival and put anything you buy into it!" Mirajane explained before she looked a little devilish. "So will you be buying anything from _my_ stall, Lucy?"

Probably out of fear more than a desperate need for baked goods, Lucy quickly selected a few pink iced buns and handed over some jewel for them.

"Much appreciated!" Mira replied jovially, cashing the jewels into her safety box alongside with her sweet demeanor returning.

' _She's way scarier than Erza.'_

As Lucy placed the buns in her newly acquired basket, Mira looked to her. "Oh, I forgot to ask! Are you entering the 'Harvest Queen' competition this year, Lucy?"

"The what?"

Mirajane smiled before taking an illustrated piece of paper from a small stack on her table and then presenting Lucy with it. "You should consider joining in this year, I think you would have a good chance!"

Lucy hooked the basket over her arm as she glossed over the paper, her speed reading skills quickly taking in all the information presented on it. "It's a contest to decide who gets to ride the harvest float in the parade later?"

"That's right!" Mira responded. "I'm not taking part this year but some of the other girls are – you just have to perform a few tasks and strut with a basket of vegetables."

"That sounds like a lot of effort…" Lucy replied, tempted but equally as keen to just explore the festival with Natsu.

"Well, there's a gift card as a prize for the winner too – redeemable in most Magnolia stores!"

Now, Lucy was feeling more than just tempted. Those artisan stalls, that new clothing store, heck, she could go food shopping and actually have some money left over on her account for once! Also, the flier did state that the contest would only take an hour… although, Lucy didn't exactly feel like she was dressed for a contest that alluded that it may include activities that would be typical of a traditional beauty competition. She would have to walk back and change and then-

She shook her head.

She was supposed to be having a fun day with Natsu, who, really wanted just her company today for whatever reason. "I'll think about it, Mira."

A familiar voice responded from close behind her, "Think about what?"

Lucy jumped at the sudden invasion of her personal space, turning and seeing Natsu standing there, he being oblivious to how close he was standing as he held a paper box of grilled meat and vegetables.

Lucy let out a small shriek of alarm before crossing her arms. "Natsu! Why are you standing so close to me?!"

"Was seeing what you were up to," he responded casually.

"Well, you don't have to stand so close to do that!"

"Yeah, whatever. Are you sure you don't wanna try any of this?" Natsu asked, holding up the box and lifting the lid, revealing tender pieces of meat and sauce, accompanied by two small wooden forks.

' _He picked up two forks…'_

Lucy shook her head yet again. Nope, she wasn't going to read into that. "No, I wanted to look at the stalls first, remember?"

"Hmm, okay," Natsu replied, grabbing one of the forks and taking a piece of meat and gulping it down swiftly as though he were absolutely starving. "Damn, that's good!" he exclaimed. His face lit up as he quickly went for another bite hungrily. The meat and sauce combo looked messy and that was quickly confirmed by Natsu's inability to not get sauce all around the corners of his mouth and cheek.

He seemed determined for her to at least try a little with the way he gestured to the extra fork afterwards and Lucy decided to comply, if just to satisfy his need for her to try this 'amazing food'. No sooner had the meat hit her tongue, she could tell why Natsu liked it – it was absolutely delicious.

"Told ya it was good!" Natsu said, grabbing her hand as she was stilling chewing, which caught her by surprise, and began to drag her away. "Let's go see those other stalls you wanted!"

Lucy only got to quickly wave goodbye to Mira with the small fork still in her mouth with Mira chuckling back in response. She didn't think about how Natsu was once again, holding her hand as she was concentrating more on swallowing down her food and avoiding people smacking into her as he began pulling her through the crowds.

"Natsu, slow down!" Lucy said loudly after gulping the remaining mouthful down, but that only made him stop abruptly and she walked right into his back. Feeling a little startled to be suddenly so close to him again, Lucy quickly stepped back and ignored the pounding of her heart.

"But I remembered that there's a stall I wanted to show you!" Natsu proclaimed as he turned around and Lucy took the opportunity to pop the wooden fork back into his box of grub. She couldn't ignore the sauce on his face though, hopelessly shaking her head at the clueless man and stepping forwards closer to him. She felt the need to do something about that.

"Just a second," Lucy said, leaving Natsu looking a bit confused.

' _You're just being a good friend, don't think romantic thoughts…'_

Natsu, surprisingly, didn't step back from her as she took her thumb and rubbed away the sauce in the corner of his mouth, desperately trying to avoid touching his lips directly and definitely not thinking about them kissin-

' _Nope, nope, nope.'_

Natsu quickly batted her hand away as he rose an inquisitive eyebrow at her. "What are you doing?"

"You had sauce there… I was just…" Lucy tried to explain, feeling a little disheartened that Natsu was quick to remove her touch from his person. She felt silly now – she should have just pointed it out to him instead of trying to fix it herself. She wasn't even sure why she did it – talk about being over-familiar with someone!

"Oh," Natsu responded, his fingers running across where she had touched him, slowing for a second as though he was contemplating her weird action before taking his hand away and smiling. "I forgot to grab napkins… thanks!"

If Lucy didn't know any better, she could have sworn for a second that _something_ was there. That for a moment – a millisecond even, that Natsu was thinking about how her touch felt and that he even might not have minded it.

' _Yeah right..._ _'_

Natsu grabbed her hand again and proceeded to drag her through the crowds none-too-gently as she tried to not thinking about intertwining her fingers with his. She had no idea how she managed to let her emotions run wild in the short time that she had met up with him, but she knew she needed to reign them back in, quickly.

They stopped a little further away from the crowd by a stall that definitely caught Lucy's attention. In truth, out of most of the stalls that Natsu could have picked out as 'one she would have liked', most of them would have been correct in that assumption. Natsu however, had to pick out another food one.

A simple stand decorated in pastel colors with a generator behind it awaited her with the sign 'Akane Beach Ice Cream'. It was strangely quiet with no queue – Lucy could only assume that it was because it was mid-October, slightly too chilly for frozen desserts.

"You liked ice cream or something, right?" Natsu asked. "You're always eating some when we watch Netflix at your place."

Lucy's eyes were immediately drawn to the various flavors on offer – some she was familiar with but there were so many more exotic choices too. There was chocolate with nutty chunks, another was salted caramel and of course, there was the familiar strawberry flavor too, but the more unusual options such as licorice or elderflower were flavors she hadn't commonly seen for sale.

"Lemme get you one," Natsu stated from beside her as she peered at her options through the glass. "You say I'm always eatin' your food."

"That's true," Lucy replied as she quickly made an impulse decision to combine a few ice cream flavors together based on her friends. Also, despite her crush on the guy, Lucy was more content by that point in her friendship with Natsu to allow him to finally buy her food that she specifically wanted for a change. "I want something that reminds me of everyone."

"Uh, okay weirdo. Which ones do ya want?" Natsu asked as he whipped out his wallet.

"Hmm… strawberry as I'm pretty sure Erza loves that flavor." Lucy tried to recall all the times that she had seen Erza with something strawberry related. There was the strawberry lip balm in her car along with the scented air freshener… and that one time Erza had bought literal strawberries to a D&D session.

"Just one scoop?" Natsu asked, almost in disbelief that she could ask for so little.

"Well, I don't need that much to eat… but I suppose another scoop won't hurt." Lucy browsed over her options again, wondering what would pair with strawberry as well as carry on the theme of picking friend related flavors. She quickly caught sight of an easy choice next. "That one!"

"Cherry blossom?" Natsu asked curiously. "Who's that one for?"

"You!" Lucy said mirthfully, pointing to his hair.

"Pfft, that's not me at all," Natsu said, waving her off and pouting slightly. "You wanna grab that one instead!" He jabbed his fingers against the glass, pointing at the ginger and chili flavor ice cream with a mischievous grin.

Lucy grimaced. "I'll stick with the cherry blossom one, thanks."

"You sure?"

"Definitely."

As the ice cream vendor placed another scoop of pink ice cream onto a cone, Lucy quickly selected a final flavor to top it off – tangerine which had a bold, orange color to it, reminding her of Levy's choices in clothes that were often of a similar shade.

Natsu quickly paid the handful of jewels that it was worth before watching the stacked cone be passed from the vendor to Lucy, her eyes bright and wide at the sight of it. She caught him looking at it intently and figured that his purchase for her was quickly becoming in danger of being devoured by him too.

' _He bought me food… like you would on a date…'_

Battling confusing thoughts, Lucy thanked both the vendor and Natsu before going ahead with finding a bench to sit on, relieved to find that one nearby hadn't been taken by the busy festival-goers.

"That stall is there every year," Natsu began explaining as he sat beside her, still holding his box of freshly grilled meat. "It has way more flavors than Gray's dumb parlor!"

A tentative lick of her ice cream had Lucy almost agreeing with the statement although having only visited it once, she couldn't really compare the two just yet. The flavors she was currently tasting were certainly amazing.

As Natsu tucked back into his own food, Lucy found herself relaxing as she slowly made her way through the first scoop of ice cream cone. It, however, wasn't long before a bout of brain freeze kicked in and she was quickly holding her forehead with her other hand as the sharp, cold pain shot through her.

"Brain freeze?" Natsu asked, turning to her.

"Hmm-mm," Lucy murmured as she clenched her jaw shut.

"Looks like it's a bit too cold," Natsu stated before leaning over and to his audacity, took a large chomp out of her cherry blossom flavored scoop. Her brain freeze seized immediately as she looked at him in shock, unsure what to say about his actions. She hadn't intended to share and if she had, they wouldn't be sharing it by him biting into it like that!

"Tastes pretty good," Natsu commented as he swallowed it down.

Of course, Lucy's renegade thoughts just had to take her to the small little detail that his lips had been on her ice cream and honestly, she wasn't sure how to feel about that. It only took a moment before she shook off what Natsu did and realized her thoughts were perhaps, a little juvenile in nature – there shouldn't be anything weird about sharing an ice cream.

"Do you want to try to other flavors too?" she found herself asking, albeit hesitantly.

Natsu offered her a look of surprise and apprehension, as though she were asking a trick question. That quickly passed before he grinned. "Sure!"

Surprisingly, he gave a thumbs-up to each flavor, despite them being on the sweeter side, as she always thought he was a savory sort of person, but, as it turns out, Natsu would try and eat pretty much anything. Lucy found herself preferring the cherry blossom scoop the most, whilst also simultaneously telling herself that it wasn't at all because she thought of Natsu when she picked it.

"We should go to Akane Beach sometime," Natsu said after a little while.

"Oh?"

"Yeah, we could build a sandcastle…. or play some volleyball or just go swimmin'!"

Lucy chuckled lightly at Natsu's childish response. When she thought of beaches, she thought of sunbathing and reading… but perhaps Natsu's plans were a little more adventurous and she wouldn't be opposed to trying them. Lucy could easily picture herself on a warm summer's day with a treat just like the one she was currently holding at that very moment.

After sitting, eating and talking for a short while, Lucy was eager to go check out the other stalls. A thought crossed her mind that, whilst it was a little preemptive, she could perhaps pick up presents for the fast-approaching holidays that were at the end of the year. In truth, it was something she had worried about recently – that time of year was always difficult financially for her but this time around, she had a whole group of new friends to think about too.

"Ready to go?" Natsu asked a little impatiently after he had thrown his empty box into a nearby bin.

"Sure!" Lucy replied, eagerly getting up and walking in the direction of the crowds once more.

Despite the occasional thumping sensation in her heart, Lucy was able to relax easily as they browsed the stalls. At first, it was just visiting more food stalls that Natsu was drawn to every other minute which she had to admit was a little endearing to see. Surprisingly, he didn't buy anything else to eat and was just mostly curious whilst making comments of 'we're coming back to this one' or 'I can't wait to try that!'.

In between the stops at food stalls, Lucy found the artisan soap stall that she had spotted earlier, 'Oak Town Soaps' and was quickly tempted to purchase a selection of bath oils and bath bombs. Natsu seemed strangely curious, taking a sniff at each thing she picked up but either gave each item a nod of approval or recoiled at the smell entirely.

Lucy giggled at his reactions, eventually grabbing a mixture of bath related items that he both approved and hated as it was for _her_ bath time after all, not his. One particular soap bar was decorated with a mermaid on top alongside with having a 'sea breeze' scent which she figured Juvia would like when it came to the holidays. Overall, the price was a little costly for soap but Lucy convinced herself it was worth it. Perhaps she could take up some extra paid work on Wednesdays if her finances became particularly dire towards the end of the year.

It was only as she and Natsu left that stall that Lucy felt that strange feeling of paranoia again, that she might be being watched. She had a quick look around with her wicker basket in hand, stopping briefly in her footsteps which caught Natsu's attention.

"Something wrong?" he asked.

"I can't shake off the feeling that someone is following me." Lucy found that the crowds made it difficult to pinpoint anything suspicious at all. Her thoughts fluttered over to thoughts of Tartaros again but she quickly reasoned that it seemed unlikely that they would choose to keep an eye on her with Natsu there, alongside the fact that it was a crowded festival in a place far from their territory.

Natsu straightened up immediately, looking around with sharp eyes. The fact that he could just switch from goofing around to taking on much more serious demeanor in a split second was reassuring to Lucy and made her feel a little bit safer at least. A small part of really wanted to grab his hand again but she restrained herself for a whole plethora of reasons.

After a few moments, Natsu's shoulders relaxed and he looked back to her. "I don't see anyone, but I'll keep an eye out."

Lucy nodded, offering a small, grateful smile. "Thank you."

They soon passed another stall that was incredibly potent in smell which had Natsu nearly gagging. Lucy looked over to take a look at its name – 'Ichiya's Parfums'.

"Not that one, nope," Natsu said, holding his nose.

"It's not that bad!" Lucy said although she had to admit that the different concoctions permeating the air around it did make it a little overpowering, even for her.

"It stinks," Natsu replied and grabbed her arm to tug her away. Lucy didn't mind that so much if he found it _that_ repulsive to be around. She personally liked wearing perfumes but she already owned a few different bottles and didn't need to buy any more.

' _Wait, does that means Natsu hates how I smell?'_

She stopped abruptly a little way from the stall. "Hey, Natsu?"

"Yeah?"

"Do I… smell bad?" she asked hesitantly, knowing that she sprayed herself with a flowery fragrance that morning before she left her apartment.

Natsu looked at her oddly, raising his eyebrows. "Huh?"

"I put on perfume this morning and uh…"

Natsu responded to her question in a way she didn't expect. He stepped forwards towards her, his frame towering over hers as he leaned in intently and Lucy tried to ignore where her rampant imagination was taking her with the image he was presenting her.

' _Stupid crush.'_

It was then that she caught the sound of him _sniffing_ her near the top of her head.

"Hey, stop that!" Lucy yelped, stepping backwards away from. She figured that he could smell her perfume from where he stood just fine and that he didn't need to lean in to sniff her like that. Lucy quickly peered around, hoping that nobody saw it.

"You asked!" Natsu stated back. "And yeah, you smell kinda 'perfumey' which is sorta strong."

"Oh." Lucy couldn't help but feel a little dejected by his comment – she at least wanted to smell nice around him and it left her wondering on how often Natsu had held his tongue about her choice of fragrance whenever they had hung out together.

"It's okay though, you still smell like you under that," Natsu then continued to say with a warm expression to his face.

Lucy rose a curious eyebrow at him. "What does that mean? What do 'I' smell like?"

Natsu cocked his head in thought for a second. "I dunno how to describe it – you smell like you and it's a nice smell."

' _He thinks that I smell nice at least…'_

Lucy smiled back at him, reassured that she wasn't completely off-putting to him, soon asking herself on how it was even possible to have what she considered to be an eerily supernatural sense of smell. The only time she could think of humans having a strong sense of smell was when it was supposedly a symptom of pregnancy in women… but obviously, that couldn't apply to Natsu.

"Hey, what's over at that stall over there?" Natsu suddenly said, grabbing her wrist and pulling her in yet another direction. Lucy was expecting yet another food stall as they made their way past couples and families traversing through the streets until Natsu abruptly halted a little way from what she assumed was his intended destination.

"Natsu?" Lucy asked whilst she looked at the stall, wondering why he had stopped when she quickly spotted a familiar bob of platinum white hair among a small group of adults roughly the same age as themselves. "… Is that… Yukino?"

"Sabertooth…" Natsu said a little quieter than normal but held no malice in his voice. Lucy heard him clearly, the very word alerting her to the fact that they were perhaps looking at some of the members of Friday's D&D group at Strauss Games.

Whether it was because Lucy had mentioned Yukino's name or Natsu's mention of their group name, one of the men of roughly the same height and build as Natsu turned to look at them from a few feet away.

"Well looky here, it's Natsu Dragneel!" he said with a bemused expression. The rest of the group's heads snapped towards them both and Lucy, despite Yukino being a respected colleague, was left feeling very, very intimidated.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone! I hope you had a good new year! I've had a little break from fanfiction in general last week so I'm aiming to get all caught up soon. I've not been feeling well which hasn't helped but things are almost back to normal now.
> 
> As a recap for anyone who doesn't remember the Harvest Festival in canon, it's the beauty contest and parade that takes place after Laxus tries to usurp the guild.
> 
> I tried to really think about scent and how important it is to Natsu in this chapter, although he doesn't have magical powers in this AU (outside of D&D). A lot of animals hold scent in high regard, for example, my cat will know if I've petted his mortal enemy, a neighbour's tabby cat that lives down the road, and will respond aggressively to me as though I've 'cheated' on him somehow. I figured that in canon, Natsu's sense of smell has a very animalistic quality to it and of how he recognises his friends by scent sometimes. I suppose by the same logic, it also applies to Gajeel and Wendy too.
> 
> Next chapter: Sabertooth have a few things to say to both Natsu and Lucy


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